SAN JUAN (2009 FIBA Americas Championship) - A great performance by guard Martin Osimani at the beggining and at the final minutes gave Uruguay a win over Canada by the score of 71-69 on day four of the 2009 FIBA Americas Championship.
Osimani finished with 14 points and 9 assists while center Esteban Batista led with 19 points and 12 rebounds in their second win of the tournament. Leandro Garcia Morales netted 11 and Mauricio Aguiar 10.
Canada started the game with an 8-2 run but Osimani led an 7-0 run to take a 9-8 lead after a three pointer with 5:13 left. The first ten minutes finished 25-16 in favor of Uruguay as Osimani had 8 points with 5 assists. Batista also had 8 points.
Both teams showed a lot of intensity on defense as baskets didn't come easy for either side and the first 20 minutes ended 36-31 for Uruguay. Batista led with 10 points and Osimani 8. Jesse Young had 9 points for Canada and Olu Famutimi along with Joel Anthony 7 each.
The Canadians regained the lead in the third quarter but Uruguay ended the period with a 9-1 run to be up 51-47.
In the final quarter Canada made an 11-1 run led by Famutimi, Young and Anthony to put the score 58-54 with 5:48 left. Finally Uruguay made a final push thanks to Garcia Morales, Osimani and Batista to get the win. Osimani made a three pointer to have a 70-67 lead with 20.6 seconds left and made a free throw to leave the score by two points.
In the loss Jesse Young had 20 points, Joel Anthony 13 and Carl English 12. Canada finishes the first round against Puerto Rico while Uruguay takes on Mexico.
Luis Modestti
FIBA Americas
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