The country's junior men's national basketball program has certainly come a long way since a 40-point massacre to the Argentines seven years ago in San Antonio.

 This time, The Bahamas was right in the game, until faltering late to drop their first game of the FIBA Americas Under-16 Championships, 74-53, to Argentina. The tournament, also known as the Tournament of the Americas, is being contested in Punta Del Este, Uruguay.

 It certainly doesn't get any easier as The Bahamas will play Mexico today and the United States on Thursday. A very strong American team blasted Mexico, 130-31, yesterday. The medal rounds start on Friday.

As for the game yesterday, The Bahamas trailed 58-52 with just over three minutes left to play, but the Argentines closed the game on a killer 16-1 run to pull away for good.

Daejour Adderley had a strong game for The Bahamas, dropping in 15 points, connecting four times from behind the three-point arc. Deondre Vilma added 13 points, five rebounds and four assists, and Shamar Burrows scored 10 points and had seven rebounds.

According to reports, The Bahamas tried to break down the Argentine defense by penetrating through the lanes early in the game, but effective rotation by the Argentines forced a number of errors. They capitalized and took advantage. Through moving the ball effectively and finding the open man, the Argentines opened a 20-16 advantage after one. The Bahamas fell behind by double digits at the half, 34-24, and were still behind 54-42 at the end of three.

Midway through the fourth, The Bahamas was right in the game though. However, after pulling within six late in the game, the Argentines closed the game on a 16-1 run to pull away for the easy win. According to reports, while The Bahamas resorted to an individual game, while the Argentines continued to execute patience, make the extra pass and find the open man, allowing them to pull away late in the game.

One glance at the statistics and there is no question where The Bahamas lost the game though. The team came into the tournament with a stigma of being the smallest team in the tournament, and it certainly showed on the glass, as they were out-rebounded, 58-38, leading to 14 more shot attempts for Argentina. Neither team shot the ball that well with the Argentines converting on 37 percent of their shot opportunities, compared to 31 percent for The Bahamas.

Argentina also had 10 steals compared to just one for The Bahamas, and outscored The Bahamas, 50-22, in the paint. Also, led by Lucio Delfino with a game-high 18 points, Argentina's bench outscored The Bahamas' bench by a whopping 49-3 margin.

 Team Bahamas will take on Mexico today. The top four teams from this tournament will qualify for the 2014 International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Under-17 World Championships.

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