The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas’ team at the FIFA Under-15 CentroBasket Championships got a rude awakening in the first two games they played over the weekend at the Fernando ‘Rube’ Hernandez Coliseo in Gurabo, Puerto Rico.

After losing game one of the tournament on Saturday by 65 points to Puerto Rico, The Bahamas team came back on Sunday and, although they made some adjustments, suffered a 50-point defeat at the hands of Mexico.

Team Bahamas, coached by Quentin Hall, Denykco Bowles and Kevin Clarke, have three more games to play over the next three days to determine their fate for the rest of the tournament.

Mexico 99, Bahamas 49: Mexico opened the first quarter on a 29-16 tear in the first quarter and they never looked back. By half-time, the Bahamas trailed 47-28. They extended their lead to 70-38 at the end of the third.

Heading into the fourth, Mexico went on a three-point scoring spree and when they decided to switch and take the ball inside, the Bahamas made some costly fouls. Mexico continued to pile up the points as the Bahamas missed too many shots.

Two of Mexico’s starters scored in double figures, but it was their bench that carried the offensive load with three of their reserves coming through with some big numbers. Karim Lopez led the way off the bench with 21 points, 10 rebounds, give block shots and two steals.

Noah Bain also came off the bench, producing the best production for Team Bahamas with 13 points on 6-for-13 from the field with seven rebounds and three steals. Two starters Michael Munnings followed with nine points and five rebounds and Bradleon McDonald added eight points with three rebounds.

Team Bahamas made a total of 34 turnovers, compared to 21 by Mexico, who had a 45-36 advantage on the defensive end.

Puerto Rico 107,

Bahamas 42

This one was over from the first quarter as the host nation rallied behind their home crowd for an insurmountable 36-6 spurt that set the tone for the outcome of the rest of the game.

Using another 31-17 tear in the second quarter, Puerto Rico extended their lead to 67-23 at the half.

However, they cooled down a bit as the Bahamas came out of the locker room and made a push for it in the third and was only outscored 15-11.

The 82-34 deficit was still too much to erase in the fourth quarter as Puerto Rico used a 25-8 spurt to polish off a 65-point rout.

While Puerto Rico had brought out a balanced scoring act with four players leading the attack in double figures, most notably Felipe Garcia with 19 points, three assists and one rebound, the Bahamas had just one player doing any significant damage.

Joshua Williams, in 21 minutes and 10 seconds, highlighted the show for the Bahamas as he produced 10 points on 4-for-13 shooting from the field, including 2-for-4 from behind the three-point line. He also had four rebounds, two blocked shots and a steal. Kenyon Johnson and Condae Smith both came off the bench, scoring six points – Johnson adding five rebounds and Smith a pair of rebounds and assists – while Desmond Hall was another starter with five points and five rebounds and Bradleon McDonald also came off the bench with four points and five rebounds.

Puerto Rico out-rebounded the Bahamas 67-40 and went 38-for-83 from the field and 28-for- 50 from the free throw line. Team Bahamas could only muster 18-for-67 from the field and 3-for-12 from the charity stripe.

The Bahamas will return to action in the opening game over the next three days of competition starting at 3pm today against the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica on Tuesday and the Turks and Caicos Islands on Wednesday before it will determine its fate in the standings for the playoffs.