San Antonio Spurs’ Manu Ginobili and team Argentina returned to the court on Thursday night as they barely defeated Venezuela 77-73. Houston Rockets’ Luis Scola led the way for Argentina with 22 points while Philadelphia 76ers’ “Chapu” Andres Nocioni did not play in the game and the team was without the services of former Spur Fabricio Oberto due to injury.
Just north in the Jenaro “Tuto” Marchand Cup held in Brazil, Tiago Splitter and Brazil defeated the Dominican Republic 70-64. Before Splitter and Brazil played, Cory Joseph returned to the court with team Canada as they lost 74-63 to Puerto Rico.
Splitter scored four points, grabbed five rebounds, and had three fouls in 23 minutes of action for Brazil. Splitter faced Atlanta Hawks’ Al Horford who scored 12 points and eight rebounds in the game for the Dominican Republic. Sacramento’s Francisco Garcia had 11 points for the D.R.
Cory Joseph had a better game offensively for Canada as he scored seven points, had two rebounds, one assist, and one steal in 17 minutes on the court. Newly crowned NBA champion J.J. Barea of the Dallas Mavericks led Puerto Rico to the victory with 24 points and five assists.
Joseph and Canada will face the Dominican Republic Friday in the final day of the Marchand Cup. Splitter and Brazil will face Barea and Puerto Rico on Friday. For Ginobili and Argentina, Thursday marked their last exhibition game before they gear up for the start of the FIBA Americas tournament next week in Mar De Plata, Argentina.
(Photo: diariouno.com)
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