Mexico tops Argentina

MEXICO CITY — Gustavo Ayon scored 16 of his 38 points in the fourth quarter and Mexico overcame a 15-point deficit to hand Argentina its first loss of the Olympic qualifier, 95-83 on Wednesday night in the last game of the second round.

Ayon also grabbed 14 rebounds, while Jorge Gutierrez scored 23 points and Francisco Cruz added 21 for the Mexicans. They earned the No. 2 seed and will face Argentina again Friday night in the FIBA Americas semifinals.

Earlier, Canada beat the Dominican Republic 120-103 to finish first and will play Venezuela in the other semifinal.

The winners will get the two Americas’ berths into the 2016 Olympics. The losers will play in the 2016 FIBA Olympic qualifying tournament.

Mexico is trying to qualify for its first Olympics since Montreal in 1976.

Luis Scola scored 26 points and Andres Nocioni added 21 for Argentina.

Canada won its seventh straight game as Cory Joseph scored 17 points to lead a balanced attack.

Anthony Bennett and Nik Stauskas each scored 14 points for a Canadian team that features nine NBA players and is one of the favorites to earn one of the berths in Rio.

“We did the job in a tough day because we played an emotional game last night,” said Canada coach Jay Triano, whose team beat Mexico on Tuesday night. “The legs were tired and we needed to turn it around quickly against a team that plays unconventional basketball. I’m happy with the win and we have 48 hours to prepare for the big game.”

Canada is trying to qualify for its first Olympic games since Sydney in 2000.

Venezuela qualified for the semifinal round with a 75-62 victory over Panama. ap