Dominicans keep the dream alive with an important victory against Chile
Dominican Republic defeated Chile 71-46 at Palacio de los Deportes achieving an important triumph as they reach their fifth win.
SANTO DOMINGO (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Americas Qualifiers) — Dominican Republic defeated Chile 71-46 at Palacio de los Deportes achieving an important triumph by getting to five wins. Now, they are right behind Group F leaders Canada, Venezuela and Brazil. Chile could only manage one victory in these Qualifiers and are adding their sixth loss to their record.
Víctor Liz, with 17 points (2/3 3PTs) was the encounter's greatest scorer, Ángel Delgado contributed 9 points and 12 rebounds, Jhonatan Araujo did 12 and 7, and Eulis Báez added 10 and 9 rebounds. Sebastián Suárez was outstanding for the visiting team with a 12-point contribution, while Sebastián Herrera added 11 points and 6 rebounds. The rest of the team reached no double digits.
The locals added 13 points in a first quarter with few scores, where the visitors could only do eight points. At the start of the second act, a 15-2 quarter by Chile surprised the Dominicans and left them behind for the first time in the game, but two consecutive three-pointers by Jhonatan Araujo took the squad led by Melvyn López ahead of the scoreboard, even though the quarter favored the visiting side, 15-16. However, the locals imposed their game at the end and closed the first half in the lead by four points (28-24).
Coming back in the second half, Dominican Republic was superior and recovered, they took charge of their mental game and were able to take home the third quarter, 20-13 (48-37). At the end of the match, the difference between both national teams was widely noticeable, at 23-9. The 25-point difference was marked in the final score: 71-46.
“During the first half we didn't have a good performance by the bench players. We failed comfortable shots. They were anxious and they noticed so. As we gain confidence we keep improving, but physical exhaustion also plays its part. We have to focus on Venezuela and do the same job we did against Chile, but we first have to see what we can do against them. We have to improve some aspects.”
The Dominicans captured 47 rebounds (29 defensive) and executed 17 assists; they only achieved 7 of 24 3-pointers and 22 of 52 2-pointers (42.31%). The Chilean squad threw 33.33% from the three-point area (7/21) and 32.08% from the field and captured 37 rebounds (30 defensive) and served 12 assists.
As for the second date, the Dominican Republic will visit Venezuela at Forum de Valencia, and Chile will welcome Canada at the Antonio Azurmendi Coliseum in Valdivia.
FIBA