The Dominican Republic’s national basketball team suffered an 84-74 defeat to Spain in an exhibition game played on 29 June 2024, in Alicante, Spain. The game was part of the Dominican Republic’s preparation for the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament, which will be held in Piraeus, Greece from 2 to 7 July 2024.
Sports reporters highlighted the good performance of the Dominican Republic team that in the past had lost to Spain by up to 40 points. The Dominican Republic is regarded as a B team, while Spain played with its complete roster. FIBA ranks Spain 2nd in the world, the Dominican Republic is ranked 19th.
Despite the loss, the Dominican Republic received a strong performance from NBA guard Chris Duarte, who scored 27 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field, including 6-of-12 from three-point range. Duarte also added three rebounds and two assists in 29 minutes of action.
Jean Montero chipped in with 13 points, three rebounds, and five assists, while Ángel Núñez had eight points and six rebounds. Eloy Vargas added six points and six rebounds, and Andrés Féliz, Víctor Liz, and Adonys Henríquez each scored five points. Luis Santos added four points for the Dominican Republic.
After the game, the team traveled to Greece to participate in the FIBA qualifier. The team members are Chris Duarte, Andrés Féliz, Jean Montero, Ángel Núñez, Luis Santos, Adris de León, Antonio Peña, Eddy Polanco, Adonys Henríquez, Miguel Simón, Víctor Liz and Eloy Vargas.
The Olympic Games of Paris 2024 will begin on 26 July and end on 11 August 2024.
The Dominican Republic is seeking to accomplish an “impossible feat” and qualify for the first time for an Olympic Games. The team needs to finish in the top two of their group in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying to advance to the knockout stage.
As part of Group B, the DR will play Egypt on 2 July, starting from 11:30am. On Wednesday 3 July, the DR will play host Greece, at 2pm. NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo is playing for Greece. Both events will be carried throughout the Dominican Republic by CDN Deportes, Channel 8.
The two best teams from Group B will compete in the semi-finals with the two teams from Group A formed from Slovenia (with NBA star Luka Dončić), New Zealand and Croatia.
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Spain vs DR game on YouTube
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1 July 2024