PIRAEUS (Greece) - The Dominican Republic tipped off their campaign in the Peace and Friendship Stadium with a rock solid 90-77 win over Egypt. They looked like they were in trouble for the first 15 minutes, but that's when 20-year-old Jean Montero entered the court and led his nation to a victory.
They are now 1-0 with a game coming up against the hosts Greece on Wednesday. Egypt get a day off to regroup and will then take on Greece on Thursday.
Turning point
Egypt were the ones who started the game stronger and their starters opened up an early 8-point lead. But even if there were any nerves on the other side of the court, it was the youngest member of the Dominican expedition who calmed them.
Just a day before his 21st birthday, Jean Montero entered the game late in the first quarter, and immediately showed why he is a two-time winner of the Spanish Liga Endesa's Best Young Player award.
His speed turned him into a blurry figure that the Egyptian defense was not able to locate and stop, as he tortured them with his drives and offensive rebounds - the 190cm (6ft 3in) tall point guard picked up three offensive rebounds in the first half alone, powering the Dominican Republic to a 27-9 second quarter.
That opened up a 43-31 lead at the half, and coach Che Garcia's players came out of the locker room with another 7-0 run to start the third quarter. There was no coming back from that deficit for the African nation.
TCL Player of the Game
Jean Montero changed the game completely coming off the bench. He spent 26 minutes on the floor, collecting 17 points on 8-of-17 shooting from the field, and he also had 5 rebounds and 4 assists.
Stats don't lie
The Dominican Republic weren't shooting the ball well at all, missing their first eight attempts from beyond the arc, but the idea was clearly visible even with those misses: keep attacking the offensive glass.
They collected a total of 19 offensive rebounds, compared to 21 defensive rebounds for Egypt, good enough for a 23-8 edge in second-chance points.
Bottom line
The Dominican Republic can cross the first two things off their to-do list because they won the game, and also won it by a big margin, which could prove crucial in case of a potential tie at the end of the group phase.
They could afford to get everybody involved. Andres Feliz was especially influential as the starting point guard with 9 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, and the Dominicans were a +34 team in his 30 minutes of work. Chris Duarte also got into double digits with 14, Victor Liz had 12, Angel Nunez 11.
For Egypt, not having their three leaders in Abdel Nader, Ehab Amin and Assem Marei, it was always going to be an uphill battle in Greece. Ahmed Metwaly was their top scorer in this one with 24 points, coming off the bench.
They said:
FIBA