I had the ticket in my pocket, it is true, but the Argentine basketball team he knows that this AmeriCup, beyond the tournament itself, is a race he must be in again, after the hectic weeks experienced with the departure of Néstor Che García. and those of Paolo Prigioni They are a clockwork mechanism, with nuances it is true, because this Tuesday in Recife they closed Group B with the third consecutive victory, this time over Dominican Republicalthough they were only able to define it at the end from 90 to 78.

At the Geraldao Magalhaes stadium, in the capital of the state of Pernambuco, the Albiceleste team closed the transition to the group stage in the best possible way, after previous successes against the Virgin Islands (95-62) and Puerto Rico (99-86). Based on the difference in points obtained in the overall sum, the Argentine team finished in second place, behind Brazil, which will allow them to face Venezuelathe best third place.

The duel of the quarter-finals against the cast led by the Buenos Aires coach Fernando Durò (former Olympian of La Banda and Comodoro Rivadavia Gymnastics) will be this Thursday, at a time to be designated.

The wine-colored cast completed their group stage performance with a hefty defeat to the United States (49-101), which made them move up to third place in zone C of continental competition.

In the Argentine triumph the Real Madrid forward from Santiago once again stood out gabriel deck, who finished with a roster of 24 points (7-11 in the doubles, 2-4 in the triple, 4-4 in the free) and 6 rebounds in the 33m. which remained in the game box.

For its part, the Barcelona escort, Nicola Laprovittolacontributed 17 units and 6 assists in 35m.

The Prisons of Cordoba team could have changed history at the last minute if Facundo Campazzo or Laprovíttola turned two doubles that would have allowed them to get a bigger difference and displace local Brazil (winner of zone A) from that better leading position than the one finally accredited.

The truth is that the Rio de la Plata team showed ups and downs in their performance and a permeable defense that triggered a warning signal.

Is that the Central American team took 22 offensive rebounds (out of a total of 44) and managed to prevail in the painting area for almost the entire match, turning Delgado into one of the figures of the match.

The other, undoubtedly, is Deck, who was particularly sharp in the first period (15 points) and affirmed his power in one-on-one every time he attacked the basket.

The quarter-final matches, which will be played this Thursday, will be as follows: Brazil-Dominican Republic, United States-Puerto Rico and Mexico-Canada.