In a duel corresponding to the penultimate date of group C of the 2023 Basketball World Cup qualifiers, the absolute national team of the Dominican Republic faced its duel against Canada, a clash that sought to define the leadership of the aforementioned group.
Meeting held at the “First Ontario Center”, in the town of Hamilton, those led by Melvyn López returned the visit to their rivals on duty, seeking to avenge the defeat suffered in Santo Domingo last February.
Víctor Liz, Ángel Delgado, Rigoberto Mendoza, Gelvis Solano and the experienced Eloy Vargas were the ones chosen by López to start on the court, in an even duel back and forth in the first 10 minutes, highlighting Mendoza’s offensive contribution from the perimeter and in the paint, closing the first half with 7 units, in addition to 8 points from Adonay Henríquez coming off the bench.
For the locals, Olynik, Alexander-Walker and Gilgeous-Alexander already appeared in double digits and commanded the North American offensive; the game reached its breaking point in the third quarter with a 30-12 run, which could not be overcome by the Caribbean team in the last part of the match, despite the 27 points scored in that final instance.
The match ended in favor of the Canadians 95-75, having an inspired Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as a figure with his 32 points scored, in addition to the 17 scored by Alexander and Olynik; for the Dominican side, he did an acceptable job from the perimeter, scoring 10 triples in 21 attempts for a 48% success rate.
Up to four players with 10 or more points were present; Henríquez with 14 points was the top scorer, followed by Liz with 12, Mendoza and Araujo with 10 points each. With this result, Canada secures first place in group C; The Dominican Republic, due to its wide difference in points with respect to the Bahamas, which will be its next rival on Monday, will remain firm in second position and with its ticket to the next phase of the pre-World Cup tournament.
In the same way, highlight a very good number of Dominican fans present at the Hamilton Arena, supporting their team at all times, despite the adverse result.