Cuba’s backhand against Puerto Rico in basketball qualifying tournament (m)

Havana, Nov 29 (ACN) The Cuban men’s team of basketball suffered his second setback today in the first window qualifying for the 2023 World Cup, losing 60-69 to his counterpart from Puerto Rico in the “bubble” of Chihuahua, Mexico.

On the field of the University Auditorium Gymnasium, the Cuban cast “deflated” after a great start to the game in which they dominated the first quarter with a good 27-16 advantage.

However, from then on the Puerto Ricans took over the match with successes of 21-16, 16-7 and 16-10 in the remaining three sets, which allowed them to take the important victory.

As happened this Sunday against the United States, the whole of the Caribbean nation lacked a bit of push at the close of the clash and they paid dearly for that against rivals of a lot of quality and competitive experience.

For the Puerto Ricans, who achieved their first triumph in that qualifying tournament, the nationalized Cuban Ismael Romero stood out on the offensive, with 18 points, in addition to capturing eight rebounds, to reaffirm that “there is no worse wedge than the same suit.” .

They also had double-digit scorers Jezreel de Jesús, Jordan Isaiah Howard and Isaac Sosa, all three with 10 points, according to the official website of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA).

On the opposite side, Yoanki Mensía (16), Jasiel Rivero (11), as well as Karel Guzmán and Yorman Polás stood out, both with 10 cards.

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In the case of Rivero, who is part of the Valencia Basket club of the Spanish League, he also captured 11 rebounds, the maximum of his team with Yoel Cubilla.

Turning to the collective statistics, the Puerto Ricans were much better in the shots of two with 48.78 percent, by 36.73% of the Cubans, and both casts were discreet from long distance with 30 and 21.05%, respectively.

With this result, Cuba (0-2) – lost 90-95 on Sunday against the Americans – last in group D, with Puerto Rico (1-1), along with the United States and Mexico (1-0), that will face this Monday.

After completing the six-game group stage, the first three of the preliminary stage in each bracket will be able to continue in competition in search of guaranteeing one of the seven American continent tickets to the 2023 World Cup, scheduled to be held at the shared venues of Indonesia, the Philippines and Japan.