Cuba out of options in Men's Basketball Olympic Pre-qualifiers

 HAVANA, Cuba, Aug 18 (ACN) The Cuban men's basketball team is out of options to advance to the semifinals in the Olympic Preliminary Qualifying Tournament of the Americas, held in the Argentine cities of La Banda and Santiago del Estero, until the next 20th.

The Cuban team suffered its second setback on Thursday, losing 66-109 to the locals, who were able to reach the round of the best four teams.

For the winners, Lucio Redivo stood out on offense with 20 points, including six three-pointers, as well as Juan Fernandez (15), Carlos Delfino and Facundo Campazzo, the last two with 14 points each.

On the other side, outstanding scorers were Neysser Coutin (15), Pedro Bombino (12), Karel Guzman (11) and Marcos Chacon (10), according to the official site of the International Basketball Federation.

For the second consecutive match, the great success of their rivals from long distance influenced the negative result of Cubans, who could not recover from the notable absences of Jasiel Rivero and Yoanki Mencia, both injured.

In key B, Chile (3-0) finished on top, followed by Uruguay, Colombia and the U.S. Virgin Islands, all with a 1-2 record, although the Uruguayans qualified in second place on points difference.

This competition has the importance of giving only one ticket to the World Pre-Olympic Games towards the summer event in Paris 2024.