USA 123: Canada 59 After demolishing the Virgin Islands 123-59 on Thursday, the United States used a balanced offensive attack and strong defense to rout Canada 113-63. Again, the Americans were led in scoring by Carmelo Anthony with 25 points and sharpshooter Michael Redd with 19 points (5 three pointers). Olu Famutimi scored 17 points for the Canadians, who played without their star Steve Nash and finished the preliminary round at 2-2. Levon Kendall, whom played for the University of Pittsburgh from 2002-2006, added 10 points and nine rebounds.

Brazil 93: US Virgin Islands 89 As expected the Brazilians also went undefeated. Though it wasn’t as easy against the U.S. Virgin Islands as would be expected, in fact, the USVI took a 45-33 lead with 2:10 left in the second quarter, and was still ahead 48-41 at halftime before Brazil rallied in the third. Leandro Barbosa continued his torrid scoring pace when as he went for 36 points against the Virgin Islands 93-89 Saturday. Marcelo Machado added 16 points. Cuthbert Victor’s 25 points led the Virgin Islands

The wins set up the showdown between the unbeaten Americans and Brazilians when they meet each other Sunday in the final game of the first round. T he winner if that game will be the top seed heading into the four-game second round. The top two finishers in the 10-team tournament earn automatic berths to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

Argentina 104: Mexico 83 Not to be outdone, Argentina also remained undefeated as they hit 15 three-pointers in defeating Mexico 104-83. Carlos Delfino had 20 points and 11 rebounds and Paolo Quinteros added 18 points for the Argentines. Romel Beck had 24 points for the Mexicans. Argentina has clinched the top-spot in their group even though they have only played 3 games because Uruguay (2-1), which plays Mexico on Sunday, is the only team in the group that can reach three wins and Argentina beat them for the head-to-head tiebreaker.

Uruguay 82: Puerto Rico 79 Esteban Batista continued his stellar play as Uruguay improved their record to 2-1. The Uruguayan center poured in 36 points and had 15 rebounds leading his national team to a tight 82-79 win over Puerto Rico. Uruguay never looked back after Batista’s second straight putback off an offensive rebound gave them a 78-76 lead with 1:02 left. Jose Juan Barea had 18 points to lead Puerto Rico. Larry Ayuso had 15 points and Carlos Arroyo added 14.

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