In a battle of two heavyweights on the last day of the FIBA Americas quarterfinals, Puerto Rico blew a 19 point lead in the fourth quarter, still ended up winning the battle, but losing the quarterfinals war to Brazil.

Despite giving Brazil their first loss of the tournament, and having the same record, Puerto Rico still ended up second because Brazil’s goal average against Argentina and Puerto Rico.

The Puerto Ricans needed to win the match by six points to finish in first place, instead they won by four 86-82.

By giving up a 73-54 lead with 7 1/2 minutes remaining, and only winning by four points, Puerto Rico must now face the red-hot Argentinians, who have won six games in a row while Brazil will play Canada.

Angel Daniel (AD) Vassallo finished with 20 points on a perfect 8-8 from the field (5-5 2pt, 3-3 3pt, 1-1 ft) in only 19 minutes of play. Larry Ayuso top-scored with 25 points  and Carlos Arroyo finished with 16 points and 6 assists.

Anderson Varejao led Brazil with 22 points including an all-important three-pointer with 12 seconds left that created the  final margin in favor of Brazil. Tiago Splitter added 19 points and Marcelo Machado had 15.

The FIBA Americas semifinals begin Saturday, August 5.