Argentina beat Cuba, first step taken on road back to the World Cup | OneFootball

It was a victory in Havana for Nicolás Casalánguida’s team, winning 80 to 68. The best players for the albiceleste were Cáffaro (18 points and 10 rebounds) and Corbalán (19 points, 7 rebounds).

The operation to return to the World Cup began for Argentina, and they did so with a win against Cuba in Havana, 80 to 68. The team led by Nicolás Casalánguida (Prigioni will resume command on Monday in Buenos Aires) found their top scorer in Gonzalo Corbalán, who had 19 points and 7 rebounds. Another standout was Fran Cáffaro, who contributed 18 points and 10 rebounds. For Cuba, Karel Guzmán stood out with 22 points and 6 rebounds. All the players for the albiceleste got minutes on the court.

Argentina started by moving the ball well, with several one-on-ones and finding good open shots. Gonzalo Corbalán started off sharp and was the top scorer of the first stretch with 7 points. Campazzo and Deck came in, and due to the locals’ lack of precision (with several shots not even hitting the rim and some turnovers), Casalánguida’s team began to pull ahead (14-7).

Some second-chance opportunities allowed Bombino and Cuba to score, closing the gap to 3 points (16-13). The Albiceleste finished the first quarter strongly and, with lots of rotation, put together a 7-0 run to end the opening period up 21-13. In the second quarter, Cuba ramped up their defense, ran more, and managed to steal some balls, forcing Nicolás Casalánguida to call a timeout after the score was tied at 25, led by a great Karel Guzmán.

Argentina went back to defending well and, with good ball movement, some steals, and a couple of impressive dunks, regained control (33-25). Cáffaro was a problem for Cuba in the paint, battling, drawing fouls, and making the resulting free throws. Brussino broke a three-point drought and Corbalán closed the half with a crossover and floater, sending Argentina into halftime up 41-32.

The second half began with several missed three-pointers by Argentina, but also with good offensive rebounds from Casalánguida’s team. Corbalán continued to be the offensive threat with his vertical play. The offensive level definitely dropped, unable to break through Cuba’s defense, which, with the ball in Bombino and Guzmán’s hands, closed the gap to just 2 points (50-48).

Argentina, led by Campazzo, started to run the floor again and pulled ahead (59-48), finding very good points in transition and putting together a 9-0 run. Marcos Chacón, the Gimnasia de Comodoro player, began to take charge of Cuba’s offense, but wasn’t very effective. The visitors took advantage to stretch the lead (65-49).

With Karel Guzmán as their leader, Cuba decided not to finish the game without a fight and got within 6 points of Argentina (74-68). With consecutive points, Fran Cáffaro cooled things down and the Albiceleste ultimately secured the win, being the better team, despite missing and overusing the three-pointer, allowing defensive rebounds, but winning. The next step in these qualifiers will be next Monday, in Buenos Aires, against the same opponent.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.