Gustavo Ayon Crowned MVP As Mexico Wins Gold


Last night, Mexico and Puerto Rico faced off in the FIBA Americas Championship game. Mexico, led by Gustavo Ayon, pulled out a close one, 91-89, despite Puerto Rico getting 23 points from Carlos Arroyo, 20 from JJ Barea and 14 from Renaldo Balkman. Here’s the recap per HawskBasketblog.com: “Ayón scored 20 points and pulled down a game-high 16 rebounds to complete a magnificent individual tournament performance that crowned him MVP. Ayón also made the all-tournament team, averaging 17.2 points and 8.4 rebounds. Puerto Rico and Mexico exchanged leads throughout the fourth quarter, and the Puerto Ricans missed an open three-pointer at the buzzer that would have won it. Mexico replaced Panama in the tournament, which also served as the qualifier for the 2014 FIBA World Cup in Spain.  That tournament takes place every four years.  Mexico joins Puerto Rico, Argentina and the Dominican Republic as teams that qualified from the tournament. Mexico was not expected to advance but instead won gold for the first time in 35 years. After a terrific tournament, Ayón now turns his focus toward preparing for Atlanta Hawks training camp in October.”