Parada helps in Mexico’s upset

Adam Parada, a senior at UC Irvine, scored eight points Wednesday as

Mexico upset Argentina, 91-89, in the opening game of the Americas

Olympic qualifying tournament at the Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San

Juan, Puerto Rico.

Mexico led Argentina, the silver medalists at the World

Championships last year, throughout the game, taking a 45-41

advantage into halftime and extending the lead to 14 points midway through the fourth quarter.

Eduardo Najera of the Dallas Mavericks led Mexico with 20 points,

including four three-pointers.

The tournament began Wednesday and runs through Oct. 31 with the

top three teams, of 10, advancing to the 2004 Olympic Games in

Athens, Greece.

In the opening phase of the tournament, the 10 teams are divided

into two groups, with round-robin play occurring in each.

Mexico is in Group A while the United States, which features a

collection of NBA all-stars, is in Group B.

Mexico will face Uruguay in its second game on Friday.

Parada, a 7-foot center, averaged 12.2 points and 6.2 rebounds for

the Anteaters last season when earning second-team All-Big West

Conference honors.