Mexico and Puerto Rico arranged a title showdown in the finals of the 2013 FIBA Americas Championship in Caracas, Venezuela after defeating their respective semi-final foes on Tuesday.
Mexico, who finished as the top team after the first two rounds of the competition, secured a spot in the finals after scoring a come-from-behind victory over defending champions Argentina in their semis clash.
Oozing with confidence from their previous wins, Mexico started out strong and took a 20-14 lead after the first 10 minutes of action, but Argentina turned the tables around with a strong second-quarter performance.
Argentina looked like they were headed to the finals after controlling the tempo for most of the second half before collapsing down the stretch, coupled with the terrific offensive onslaught by the Mexicans.
The defending champions were still up 62-55 in the final seven minutes of the match, but Mexico ended the game with a huge 21-8 run to escape with the come-from-behind win.
Gustavo Ayon, who played in the NBA with the Milwaukee Bucks, led Mexico with 24 points and 12 rebounds to go along with three assists and two steals.
On the other hand, Puerto Rico arranged a finals date with Mexico after cruising to an impressive 79-67 victory against the Dominican Republic in their semis match.
Puerto Rico leaned on their veterans to dispatch the gritty Dominican Republic squad with Carlos Arroyo racking up 20 points, five rebounds, four steals and three assists.
JJ Barea also had a fair share of the spotlight with 16 points to go along with eight assists and five rebounds, while Renaldo Balkman had another double-double stat line with 13 points and 14 boards.
Live Streaming And Schedule
The 2013 FIBA Americas Championship finals will be broadcasted live on ESPN3 starting 7:30 p.m. EST, while live streaming will be available on Watch ESPN. The finals and the bronze medal match between Argentina and Dominican Republic will also be shown live on NBA TV and ESPN Deportes TV.
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