RIGA (2011 FIBA U19 World Championship) - Argentina have assured that it will not be all European teams in the final four of the FIBA U19 World Championship, holding off Croatia in the last of the quarterfinal matchups.
 
From the highs of beating tournament favorites USA and Lithuania to the lows of losing to Korea, Croatia have shown in Latvia that consistency is not their strong suit and in the first half it looked as if their rollercoaster was heading for another low against an Argentinean side that has grown stronger in every game at this tournament.
 
Throughout the opening half it was Argentina in the lead with Croatia coming close to going in front on more than one occasion only to fade away again with the South American's lead going out to as much as 19 points.
 
Argentina provided a perfect example of teamwork throughout the opening 20 minutes with nine of Coach Enrique Tolcachier's players who got on the court also getting themselves on the score sheet with 18 of their 46 points coming off the bench, compared to just three points from their opponent's bench.
 
The news was somewhat better for the Croats in the second half as their star pairing of Toni Katic and Dario Saric combined for 14 third quarter points to bring the South American's lead back down to single figures. Back to back threes from Patricio Garino would however allow Argentina to retain a five point lead heading into the final ten minutes.
 
Within the opening minute of the final quarter Croatia had Argentina's lead down to two points only for disaster to strike them when Katic went down clutching his left side. Katic would not return to the court, leaving it up to Saric to try and bring the Croatians home.
 
With less than a minute remaining Croatia remained close, trailing by four with the game headed towards a free throw shooting competition. But it was a competition that Argentina would ultimately prevail in, leaving the Croats ruing their slow start.

FIBA