The Dominican Republic won the gold medal in basketball in the Central American and Caribbean Sports Games that ended last week in Maracaibo, Venezuela. This had not occurred in 25 years. The DR defeated Panama 62-60 in the final 21 seconds of the game. Ricardo Vásquez was the hero of the game when he threw a long distance shot with only 21 seconds to go and Dominicans were losing 60-57. Vásquez’s shot tied the score to 60. He then was given a free throw after being fouled for the DR to get ahead 61-60. The Panamanians were able to rescue the ball but committed a foul. Carlos Ramírez scored one of two free throws, giving the DR the win of the most important regional basketball championship. Panama attributed to "bad luck" the losing the gold. Dominican Coach Miguel Cruceta attributed their win to the team’s defense. He explained no team was able to score 80 points against them. The players said they won because they played as a team, there were no stars.
