National league: Atenas de Córdoba relegated to Liga Argentina again | OneFootball

Argentino defeated Atenas 88-77 and condemned them to relegation to the Argentine League. El Fortín de las Morochas went wild over another miracle by El Turco.

Atenas de Córdoba will return to the Argentine League after spending the last two years in the National League. El Griego was relegated again in the 2025-26 season after losing the survival series 3-1 to Argentino. The Junín team won 88-77 to secure its place in the top division.

The game swung back and forth, but Argentino ended up showing its quality in the second half to take the win. They were more efficient shooting the ball and handled the pressure better. Franco Balbi, who arrived less than a month ago, was once again decisive with both his scoring and playmaking ability. His impact went beyond solid numbers: 15 points, six rebounds, and four assists.

Balbi knew how to pull the strings for an Argentino side that had even hotter hands than his. The duo of Smith (22) and Schriver (21—18 of them coming from six three-pointers) was key to the home team’s comeback and control of the second half.

Atenas once again struggled with scoring. Although they made 11 three-pointers over the course of the night, with four from Luciano González (18) and three from Santiago Ferreyra (17), they managed just five field goals in the final quarter. A basket by Zurschmitten (5) cut the deficit to three (77-74) with 3:49 left on the clock, but from then on Atenas scored only three more points. The home side attacked the paint and was flawless from the free-throw line to seal its place in the top division.

Atenas will return to the Argentine League for the second time in four years. The most successful team in the LNB—with nine titles—will head back to the brutally tough second division, where it must first rebuild before it can return to the place it should never lose again in the elite of national basketball.

Argentino, meanwhile, celebrates an achievement that seemed impossible after winning just five games in the regular season. Once again, it wins the survival series to remain in the National League, where it has played since the 2012-13 season. The miracle team did it again.

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