Argentina shocks USA in World Cup qualifiers

Nicolas Laprovittola scored 17 points, Lucio Redivo added 14 and Argentina shook off a slow start to beat the US, 80-63, in a World Cup qualifying game on Thursday night (Friday, PHL time). The win put Argentina (8-1) atop Group E qualifying in the Americas region, one game up on the US (7-2) with three contests remaining for both teams.

The top three teams in the division are assured of a spot in the World Cup, and the Americans can clinch with a win on Sunday at Uruguay.

Travis Trice scored 16 points for the US, which was doomed by getting outscored 31-10 over a 13-minute stretch spanning the end of the second and the entire third quarter.

The Americans led 12-0 early, after Argentina missed its first 10 shots.

From there, it was basically all Argentina.

The US lead was trimmed to 16-13 after the first quarter, and the Americans were still up 30-26 with 3 minutes left in the half before Argentina started to roll. The hosts took a 35-32 lead into the locker room, then outscored the US, 23-8, in the third — a run capped by Nicolas Brussino's 3-pointer from the left corner with a second left that had the overflow crowd in an 11,000-seat arena roaring.

Brussino scored 11 and former NBA standout Luis Scola had 10 for Argentina.

The US is using rosters filled primarily by G League players in qualifying because of changes in FIBA rules. NBA players aren't available for the qualifying games, though if the US makes it to the World Cup in China it will then be the NBA stars taking over in a quest for a third consecutive gold medal in the event, which will serve as a qualifier for the 2020 Olympics.

Meanwhile, Uruguay took a big step forward in its quest to qualify from the Americas Region.

Mathias Calfani's go-ahead 3-pointer with 4.8 seconds left was part of a wild finish as Uruguay defeated Puerto Rico 64-62 in another Group E game on Thursday. Uruguay (6-3) moved into third place outright in the group, a game up on Puerto Rico (5-4).