Upsets and tight games were the order of the day on Saturday at the 2013 FIBA Americas Championship.
Uruguay trailed for most of their game against Jamaica, but a tip-in from Esteban Batista with 4.3 seconds to left to play gave the South Americans the victory 68-66.
Batista finished with game-highs of 22 points and 14 rebounds, while Leandro Garcia Morales added 20 points.
For Jamaica (0-2), Samardo Samuels and Akeed Scott scored 19 and 18 points respectively.
Uruguay (1-0) face Puerto Rico (2-0) on Sunday.
The game of the day was between Puerto Rico and Canada.
It was a match-up of Puerto Rico's experienced squad against a young and very talented Canadian team that has six NBA players on its roster.
The "Boricuas" got off to a fast start as team captain Carlos Arroyo had 11 first quarter points to put his team in front 19-13.
Canada came alive at the end of the second quarter to get within 40-37 at the break.
In the second half, the more experienced Puerto Rico took advantage of mental mistakes by Canada - including three technical fouls in the fourth quarter - to cruise to an 83-67victory.
Puerto Rico's defense has been the best of the tournament, holding Brazil to 65 points on Friday and Canada to 67 on Saturday.
Arroyo finished with 20 points, Larry Ayuso added 19 points and Renaldo Balkman had a double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds.
Canada were led by their big men as Andrew Nicholson had 21 points and Tristan Thompson had 20 points. Canada (1-1) face Brazil (1-1) in Sunday's first game.
The Dominican Republic pulled off the upset of the tournament so far as they hammered Argentina 91-72.
The Dominicans had control of the game right from the start.
They focused their defensive efforts on Argentinian superstar Luis Scola, holding him to 13 points on 4 of 18 shooting from the field and challenging the younger players of Argentina to take on a leading role, something they couldn't achieve on the night.
Dominican Republic played to their own rhythm. James Feldeine had 21 points, Juan Coronado scored 18 and Jack Michael Martinez had a double-double 12 points and 14 rebounds.
The Dominican Republic face tournament hosts Venezuela on Sunday, who got a boost in confidence by beating Paraguay 75-70 in Saturday's last game.
The win came after a demoralizing loss against Mexico on the opening day of the tournament.
Venezuela needed this win to keep their hopes of advancing to the next round and qualification for the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup alive.
Axiers Sucre had 15 points, while Donta Smith and Gregory Vargas had 14 each in the winning effort.
Guillermo Araujo led Paraguay with 22 points. They next take on Mexico on Sunday.
source:
FIBA
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