Buenos Aires, February 27 (NA) – The Argentine basketball team lost 61-44 to the Uruguayan team in the third round of qualifying for the next World Cup Qatar 2027, in a match played at the Obras Sanitarias stadium. According to the Argentine News Agency, the standout player of the match was Uruguayan point guard Joaquín Rodríguez, who scored 20 points, contributed six assists, and grabbed four rebounds, while in the national team, the only standout player was forward Gonzalo Corbalán, who scored 14 points but only got 2 rebounds and no assists. With the loss, the Argentine team is in second place in qualifying Group D, with three points, behind Uruguay, which has six points. The group is made up of four teams, and the top three advance to the second and final stage before the world championship. In the next round, Argentina will host Panama on Monday, March 2, again at the Obras stadium, at 18:30. The Argentine team had a very low performance against a team that maintained concentration for the full 40 minutes and had an excellent final quarter, which was enough for them to secure a deserved victory. The match was low-scoring from the start, with no points for the first 3:30 minutes, but while the Uruguayans managed to overcome a start marked by a drought, the albiceleste team could not keep up the pace. With a slow game, too many passes, and problems defining points with comfortable and smart shots, the Argentine team was enveloped by the robust defense of the Uruguayan team, which was strengthened mainly in rebounds (45 to 35) and in the effectiveness of three-point shots. Although the first and third quarters were close, with a 15-16 in the first and even a 13-11 in favor of the home team in the third, Uruguay obtained a good difference in the second quarter, with a 14-7 in their favor and, mainly, in the last quarter. In the aforementioned quarter, the home team was disheartened, unable to get going under the faint cheers of the fans who went to the Obras Stadium, located in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Belgrano, against a rival that had its best efficiency numbers of the night: 41% field goal percentage, with a notable 57% on two-pointers given the low scoring of the match. It should be noted that Argentine coach Pablo Prigioni decided not to use his main stars, guards Facundo Campazzo and Nicolás Laprovittola, and forward Gabriel Deck, who had important participations in the EuroLeague, the continent's top cup, prioritizing giving them a few days of rest to avoid injury risks. The team will play again next Monday, hosting Panama, in a match where they must get back on the path to victory to leave behind a tough defeat against the “Charrúas,” both in basketball terms and in attitude. Their next opponent will have a significant absence due to the ligament injury of shooting guard Jhivvan Jackson Meléndez, who currently plays for San Pablo Burgos in the Spanish ACB League and has past experience in Belgian and German basketball.
