Puerto Rico lost 79-86 to Argentina in their last game of the Continental Champions tournament on Sunday, finishing the series without a win.
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The Argentineans set up their superiority with fastbreaks and 3-pointers and led 23-14 after the first quarter.
Argentina extended their lead to double figures with 6:42 left in the second quarter. Puerto Rico successfully cut the deficit to 1 when #5 Filiberto Rivera shot a jumper from the arc with 1:00 remaining. The Argentineans drained two 3-pointers to end the second quarter 45-40.
Rick Apodaca of Puerto Rico scored 16 points in the first half. Julio Mazzaro contributed 11 points for Argentina.
Argentina maintained their dominant position in the third quarter and led 70-65 into the fourth period. They built a 8-point lead with 5:02 left in the fourth quarter. Puerto Rico never trailed after and Argentina won the game 86-79, five Argentina players got double digit. Puerto Rico's Apodaca got a game-high 31 points.
Argentina finally won the runner-ups of the tournament after the game on 4-1 aggregate. Puerto Rico were at the bottom with 5 loses.
(China.org.cn by staff reporter Li Xiao, July 31, 2005)
