The pre-Olympic in Riga (Latvia) is the first of four that will be held simultaneously these days (they are also played in Valencia, Athens and San Juan de Puerto Rico) to produce a finalist. It was Brazil, which defeated the Philippines 71-60 in its semifinal. The South American team will face the winner of Cameroon-Latvia in this Sunday’s final, which will be played this afternoon.
Brazil had to overcome a poor start to the game, where the Philippines imposed the defense to escape by ten points at the end of the first quarter (12-22). The Asians led by 11 in the second quarter (19-30) but from then on they lost their strength and at half-time they only had six points (27-33).
The team led by Aleksandar Petrovic turned the game around with a spectacular third quarter, where they outscored their rivals 24-6 to bring the score to 51-39 at the end of the first 30 minutes. The Philippines had no choice and in the middle of the last quarter they lost by 16 points (67-51).
The best of the South Americans is center Bruno Caboclo (15 points and 11 rebounds), well supported by Marcelinho Huertas (13 points and 7 assists).
Source: La Verdad
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