SANTO DOMINGO.- Gerardo Suero showed his face coming off the bench and scored 20 points, to guide the important victory of the Dominican Republic team, which this Thursday defeated Argentina 80-69, in a match of the fifth window of the World Cup Qualifier FIBA Basketball 2023.
Argentine coach Néstor-Che-García masterfully directed the tricolor troop during the match, which took place before a well-attended public at the Palacio de los Deportes Virgilio Travieso Soto.
It is noteworthy the fact that Che García, until a few months ago was the head coach of the Argentine senior team, being fired, and now he defeated his home club leading the Dominican, in this window.
Suero was followed in the Dominican offensive by reserve player Antonio Peña with 15 points, while Rigoberto Mendoza (Vikingo) contributed 14 points.
In the cause lost by Argentina, the best offensive player was Nicolas Bussino with 16 points, followed by Luis Redivo with 12 and Marcos Dalia added 10 points.
After the important victory, the Dominican team is in fourth place in Group E of the Americas Qualifiers, with a record of 6-3, tied with Argentina (6-3), both behind Canada (8-0) and Venezuela. (7-1).
The seven best teams on the Continent (first 3 groups E and F and best fourth place) advance to the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023, from the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia.
RD impressive first half
The Dominican team had a great first half, which they dominated with a good lead of eight points 41-33.
In that stretch of the first two sets, the local quintet took advantage of an excellent fast game, combined with a strong individual defense and speed of hands, which caused many mistakes in Argentina’s offense.
The tricolor team came to be dominating the board by ten points (32-22) remaining 5:27 to end the second quarter. Also, Che Rodríguez’s boys were ahead on the scoreboard 34-27, with only 3:20 to go at halftime.
Rigoberto Mendoza (Vikingo), 10 points Gerardo Suero, coming off the bench (9), in addition to the good offensive and defensive work of Ángel Delgado and Jean Montero, as well as reservists Antonio Peña and Jean Montero, who were in charge of dismantling the famous standing game of the Argentines.
Prior to the start of the game, an exchange of t-shirts was held between engineer Rafael Uribe, president of the Dominican Basketball Federation (Fedombal) and Dr. Fabián Borro, president of the Argentine Basketball Confederation. They were accompanied at the ceremony by the journalist José P. Monegro, a member of the collegiate management team of the Quisqueyan team.
Teams from the Americas will qualify for the Basketball World Cup by hosting six windows over 15 months, from November 2021 to February 2023, with the national teams playing home and away games in each presentation.
Sunday match
This Sunday, the Dominican Republic team faces Venezuela, starting at 6:00 in the afternoon, for their second commitment in this fifth window.
