The Puerto Rico men’s basketball team defeated the Dominican Republic 93-86 this Friday in the first preparation game agreed for the 2023 World Cup to be organized by the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia from August 25 to September 10.
Puerto Rico, led by Nelson Colón, displayed an enveloping pressure on their opponent in the Coliseo de Puerto Rico, in San Juan, before 14,500 fans.
Winger Isaiah Piñeiro and center George Conditt IV set the pace in the first part of the initial period, until Dominican point guard Víctor Liz hit a three-pointer and left a narrow favorable partial of 15-16.
The Dominican formation, with the Argentine Néstor García on the bench, maintained their dominance in the initial period, until the successes of Conditt IV and Stephen Thompson once again tipped the balance on the side of Puerto Rico to close the first half at 23-22 .
At the beginning of the third round, the Dominican squad, with a pair of doubles by Rigoberto Mendoza, opened an 8-0 light and brought the difference to 25-30, forcing Colón to rethink his plan.
Back in action, the Puerto Ricans scored a seven-point run and resumed the lead with a 32-30 run.
The Puerto Rican team continued to dominate the challenge in the second period, and with a spectacular dunk from Piñeiro to close the first part of the match, they extended Puerto Rico’s lead with a score of 54-47.
Even Piñeiro and Conditt combined for 31 of the 54 points that Puerto Rico scored in the first half.
The third period was once again dominated by Puerto Rico, to the point that with a basket by John Holland, who returned to the Puerto Rican squad after several years away, he gave his team the biggest advantage of the game, 76-63, making the technician Garcia asked for time.
Puerto Rico, who also had 14 points from their point guard Tremont Waters, continued to dominate the match for the remainder of the fourth quarter until the end.
For the Dominican Republic, Lester Quiñonez, a member of the Golden State Warriors in the NBA, dazzled with only 7 goals.
After this match, Puerto Rico will travel to Las Vegas, Nevada, for a friendly match against the United States, on August 7.
The tour will continue through Europe with matches against Italy and Serbia. Then, in China-Taipei, the Puerto Rican team will meet Lithuania and Latvia before arriving in the Philippine capital of Manila, where they will play the group stage.
Puerto Rico debuts in the World Cup on August 26 with Sudan in Group B, completed by Serbia and China.
After the visit to Puerto Rico, the Dominicans will have another two preparation games: on August 10 and 12 against Latvia.
From there, they will play on the 18th and 19th of the same month, against the national teams of Canada and Spain, based in Granada, in Andalusia.
Finally, the Dominican squad will proceed to end their phase of preparation games, when they face Egypt on August 22.
