Spain beats Argentina 95-75 to win Basketball World Cup
- Sports
- Compiled from wire services
- Published Date: 06:41 | 15 September 2019
- Modified Date: 06:41 | 15 September 2019
Spain beat Argentina 95-75 to win the FIBA Basketball World Cup for the first time since 2006 on Sunday, completing a stunning campaign for a squad considered among the rank outsiders when the 32-team tournament began.
Ricky Rubio was a key playmaker for the Spanish victory as the Phoenix Suns point guard scored 20 points against Argentina. Rubio had seven rebounds as well. He was named man of the final.
Spanish guard Sergio Llull played with 15 points. Spain's center Marc Gasol tallied with 14 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.
Real Madrid small forward Rudy Fernandez contributed to the Spanish win with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
The Hernangomez brothers of Spain, Juancho and Willy, scored 11 points each.
Argentina's Gabriel Deck produced 24 points for the South American team, making himself the top scorer of the final.
Argentinian point guard Nicolas Laprovittola scored 17 points.
Playmaker point guard of Argentina, Facundo Campazzo, scored 11 points, made eight assists and had four steals but Argentina was unable to avoid the loss.
Serbian shooting guard Bogdan Bogdanovic, French guard Evan Fournier, Spain's Rubio and Gasol and 39-year-old Argentinian veteran forward Luis Scola were selected for the China 2019 All-Star five.
Rubio was also picked as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the 2019 FIBA World Cup.
In the post match ceremony, 2006 world champions Spain were given the gold medal and the World Cup trophy.
Meanwhile, runners-up Argentina returned home with a silver medal.
Earlier in the day, Nando De Colo netted 19 points as France took their second consecutive World Cup bronze medal with a 67-59 win over Australia.