Paul Stoll has helped Mexico beat the U.S.

The 36-year-old Mexican American professional basketball player, who plays for Hapoel Tel Aviv of the Israeli Premier League, scored 15 points and had nine assists to help Mexico defeat the U.S. 73-67 on Friday in the opening game of Group C play for both teams at the FIBA AmeriCup.

The victory is Mexico’s first ever against the United States at the AmeriCup.

Fabian James added 13 points and 10 rebounds for Mexico.

Jeremy Pargo led the U.S. with 14 points. Norris Cole scored 11 and Gary Clark grabbed 12 rebounds for the Americans.

Both teams shot 39%. But the U.S. committed 18 turnovers to Mexico’s 13, and was whistled for 22 fouls to Mexico’s 15.

The loss doesn’t knock the U.S. out of contention, though certainly puts the pressure on the Americans going into their final two games in the group stage.

There are 12 teams at AmeriCup, broken into three groups of four. The top two teams from each group are guaranteed berths in the quarterfinals, as well as two of the three third-place teams.

That means the U.S. would still likely reach the quarterfinals with wins in its two remaining group games, and would even have a chance by going 1-1 in those contests.

The U.S. is using a roster composed of players who were most recently on either G League teams or international clubs.

The AmeriCup event is separate from the ongoing qualifying for next year’s Basketball World Cup – which serves as a primary path for teams to earn a spot in the field for the 2024 Paris Games.