Scola powers Argentina past Canada in Rio qualifiers

MEXICO CITY  — Luis Scola had 35 points and 13 rebounds, and Argentina beat Canada 94-87 on Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila) in the men's Olympic qualifying tournament.

Scola, a 35-year-old NBA veteran who just signed with Toronto, was 13 for 26 from the field. Nicolas Laprovittola scored 20 points, and Andres Nocioni finished with 15.

Argentina improved to 2-0 in Group B. Venezuela (1-0) is second, followed by Puerto Rico (0-1), Canada (0-1) and Cuba (0-1).

The top two teams in the tournament qualify for Rio 2016.

"We already defeated two teams that have the same aspirations to qualify for the Olympics," Argentina coach Sergio Hernandez said. "We did not have a great start in the second half, but we were playing Canada, a team that to me has the best squad in the tournament."

Anthony Bennett and Andrew Wiggins each scored 13 points for a Canadian team that features nine NBA players and is one of the favorites to qualify for their first Olympics since Sydney 2000.

"We have to give them credit, they controlled the tempo of the game, and they beat us in every aspect of the game," Canada coach Jay Triano said. "We committed 13 turnovers and they got 20 points from them. We didn't defend and we didn't rebound, you can't win playing like that."

Earlier in a Group A game, Michael Hicks scored 21 points to help Panama beat Uruguay 78-71 for its first win of the tournament.

Panama (1-0) is tied with Mexico (1-0) in their sector. The Mexicans got the day off on Tuesday. Uruguay (1-1) is third, while Brazil (0-1) and the Dominican Republic (0-1) will face each other later on.