Luis Scola, Andres Nocioni and Facundo Campazzo were all influential as Argentina produced a strong second-half display to beat Venezuela 77-68 and secure top honours in Group B.

"The key to finishing first in the group was to live every match as if it were our last," said Campazzo.

"The first half was even but in the second half we improved in defence and we won.

"This team wants to get to the final and qualify for the Olympics.

"But there's a long way to go for that.

"In the second phase our intelligence will be a key factor."

Meanwhile, 23 points and 14 rebounds from Gustavo Ayón helped guide defending champions Mexico to a 78-53 win against Uruguay in Group A, their fourth in as many games.  

The other match in Group A saw Panama claim an 89-72 victory against Brazil, who have failed to make it beyond the first round for the second successive edition of the Championship.

Canada and Puerto Rico met in the day’s second Group B encounter and it was the former who came out on top with a 112-92 win to make it three wins out of four.

Cuba, who completed their first-round Group B campaign yesterday, are the other team alongside Brazil to suffer an early exit.

The eight remaining teams will be aiming to secure a semi-final spot in the hope of then claiming one of the two available Rio 2016 places by making it to the title game on September 12.

The second round of the group phase tips off on Sunday (September 6) following a rest day tomorrow.

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