Bahamas leads wire to wire in win over Puerto Rico

SAN JUAN (Puerto Rico) – Three years ago, Kentwan Smith and Domnick Bridgewater left it all on the court as the Bahamas failed to qualify for the FIBA 2022 AmeriCup, falling twice to Puerto Rico in the group stage.

Now, they led their team to a win to start off their AmeriCup 2025 Qualifiers journey, with a well-rounded and talented roster ready to show the Americas that Bahamas is a basketball nation and will fight for a spot in the AmeriCup.

With an 88-77 win over Puerto Rico in front of their opponent’s home crowd of Coliseo Roberto Clemente, Bahamas took the first step on that journey.

The duo were on their game early, with Smith notching 5 points and 2 steals in the first quarter while Bridgewater added 4 points, 4 assists and 2 steals.

But it was the full Bahamas roster who needed to show up if they wanted to beat a team like Puerto Rico, and they did just that as Rashad Davis and Kai Jones – neither who were on the 2022 roster – showed their abilities early each adding 7 first quarter points, with Bahamas leading by 15 points.

Bahamas used their size to dominate down low, scoring 10 points in the paint, while also having the speed to force 5 turnovers from Puerto Rico to turn into 6 points.

Having a talented roster of their own, Puerto Rico was not looking to go down in front of their home crowd without a fight, and Alfonso Plummer helped Puerto Rico claw back with six second quarter points, draining two shots from beyond the three-point arc.

Christian Negron added 4 points in the quarter as Puerto Rico outscored Bahamas 18-17, but Bridgewater and Smith tallied 8 and 9 points respectively by the half, while Jones also tallied 9, and Bahamas held a comfortable 47-33 lead.

Puerto Rico found their footing on the fast break, but the Bahamas had not allowed them to control any second chances as they dominated on the defensive boards.

But the chants from the home crowd fuelled Puerto Rico, and Tjader Fernandez used his previous AmeriCup experience to step up and tally 14 third quarter points while Davon Reed, who suited up for Puerto Rico for the first time, added another 5.

Bridgewater and Smith wouldn’t let their story be written the same way it previously was against Puerto Rico, and the two combined for 31 of Bahamas’ points by the end of the third quarter, the only two players in double-digit scoring.

From the three-point line Puerto Rico had no answer for Bridgwater, who hit five three-pointers shooting 71 percent from the arc.

The fourth quarter saw Puerto Rico take more control, with the quarter of Fernandez, Plummer, Reed and Negron leading while Angel Matias also tallied 10 points by the end of the match, but Bahamas continued to show their team was not one-dimensional and not the same team Puerto Rico faced three years ago.

Smith hit two more deep shots from beyond the three-point arc while Jones added another 4 points, but it was David Nesbitt’s 10 points including 7 in the second half that made a big impact as 7 different players on Bahamas tallied 7 or more points.

Eron Gordon and Tavario Miller kept the scoring productive as Puerto Rico put more of their defensive efforts on Bridgewater, who was held to just 3 points in the final quarter.

But the dominant first quarter from Bahamas, their defensive skill which saw them tally 10 steals, and their well-rounded approach allowed them to get the win over Puerto Rico this time around.

Bridgwater led Bahamas with 20 points, 6 assists and 3 steals, Smith added 17 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks, and Jones added 13 points, 7 rebounds and 2 steals.

Fernandez tallied 17 points for Puerto Rico in the loss along with 5 rebounds and 6 assists, while Reed added 14 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists.

FIBA