Puerto Rico beat Italy 80:69 and in that way qualified for the semifinals of the Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
In the first quarter, the game was extremely tight and neither team managed to gain a bigger advantage. On the contrary, it was very even, but also ineffective, so that part of the game ended with 15:14 for Puerto Rico.
In the following period, things change. Italy finds an offensive rhythm and manages to hit more and more open shots. It was much better, the rival couldn’t stop it, so at halftime it was plus five for Italy.
From that moment on, the situation on the court changes. Puerto Rico is raising the level of the game and already in the third quarter hints that there could be a turnaround. All this happens in the fourth quarter, in which Italy can’t connect offensively and scores only 12 points. It was also up to the defense of Puerto Rico, which closed all approaches to the basket, decided the last 10 minutes in their favor with a plus 11 and exactly that difference and celebrated at the end.
The most deserving for that were Jose Alvarado with 29 points and George Conditt with 15 points. The rival was led by Danilo Gallinari with 14 points.
Thus, the semifinal pairs of the tournament in San Juan are Puerto Rico – Mexico and Italy – Lithuania. Only the best will go to the Olympic Games, in a group with the USA, Serbia and South Sudan.
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