Rodriguez, Team Puerto Rico, sent to FIBA consolation round

Ruben Rodriguez and his Puerto Rico teammates won’t be advancing to the next round of the FIBA U18 basketball tournament.

Team Canada was too long and too strong inside Friday afternoon, eliminating Puerto Rico from medal contention 86-78 in the quarterfinals of the Americas Championship in Tijuana, Mexico.

Rodriguez, a rising senior at Reading High, scored 16 points and grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds.

Canada (3-1), which finished third in Group A play, advances to meet Group A top seed Brazil in the semifinals Friday at 5:30.

Puerto Rico (2-2), which finished second in Group B play, will play the Dominican Republic Saturday at 12:30 EST. in a consolation game.

Through four games, Rodriguez leads the team in steals, is second in rebounding, at 7.5 per game, second in efficiency, at plus-14.8, and third in scoring, at 10.0 per game. He is sixth in minutes.