The Dominican Republic national men’s basketball team won its first three games in the Group A division of Centrobasket Championship 2016 in Panama City from 19-25 June 2016. The DR needed to place in the top two to go through to the semi-finals against Group B and ensured this with its win against Mexico on Wednesday, 22 June 2016. The 82-69 win against Mexico put the Dominican Republic in the lead of its group.
The tournament is a qualifier for the 2017 FIBA Americup and the Division A of the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup.
This was Mexico’s first Centrobasket loss since 2012. The best news was that players Eloy Vargas and Angel Delgado were the heroes of the match, building on the successes of high-scorers Victor Liz, Bahamas hero and Jose Garcia, hero of the Costa Rica match.
In the game against defending champions Mexico, by the third quarter the DR was already leading 53-45. The final quarter of the game was marked by fouls and timeouts after the DR took a substantial lead that was never let go.
With 6:45 minutes to go, in the third quarter, Mexico called a timeout when the score was 62-50. At the five-minute mark, the DR had increased the lead to 15 points. With four minutes to go and Mexico trailing by 13 points, Mexico called another timeout. With two minutes to go, the DR was leading by 14 points. With 1:30 minute to go, the lead had dropped to 11 points, still a tough margin to beat. On return Victor Liz drew a foul and then make his two free throws to again place the DR 54-77 with 1:07 minute to go. With 25 seconds to go and the score 80-69, the DR called a timeout. The game ended 82-69.
In the previous games, the DR defeated Bahamas 87-80 on Tuesday, and Costa Rica 79-58 on Monday.
In the game against the Bahamas, the Dominican team never trailed and led by as many as 18 points in the game. The first quarter ended 23-17, the second 43-36 and the third 66-54. In that third quarter, Bahamas almost pulled ahead and came within two points on a few occasions. The DR notably made eight out of 10 free throws in the fourth quarter to seal the win. FIBA also reports that the Dominican Republic’s defense suffocated Bahamas offense and racked up 13 steals. The rest of the stats showed the parity between the teams.
The better players for the Dominican Republic in the game against the Bahamas were Victor Liz with a game-high 23 points and six rebounds and four steals. Of the 23 points, 12 came from long range. Point guard Juan Coronado added 17 points, six assists, four rebounds and four steals and Sadiel Rojas had 11 points and five rebounds.
In an interview after the Costa Rica game, Juan Jose Garcia, the top scorer in the first game against Costa Rica, told FIBA that he expected the team to play better as the championship advanced. He pointed out that the team has players who joined the team late because they have had other commitments outside of the team. He says this means the team is still adjusting to playing together.
The DR now plays a final match in the group against the Virgin Islands on Thursday, 23 June 2016.
The DR is playing in Group A against Virgin Islands, Mexico, Bahamas and Costa Rica. Group B players are Panama, Cuba, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico and Antigua.
http://www.fiba.com/centrobasket/2016
http://www.fiba.com/centrobasket/2016/groups
http://www.fiba.com/ls/#12092&12532-B-8
http://www.fiba.com/centrobasket/2016/#iset=1edf962e-89c4-4000-b11f-9b31c56e3da0&iid=b1864b10-2d0d-44ae-ba39-7b5d4209d2f2
http://www.fiba.com/juan-jose-garcia-our-team-will-continue-to-grow-throughout-the-tournament
