The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

Before they left, the Bahamas Basketball Federation knew that if there was one disadvantage for their national boys’ team, it was their size.

On Tuesday as they opened play at the FIBA Americas Under-16 Championship Tournament for boys in Punta Del Este-Uruguay, Argentina exposed the Bahamas’ inefficiencies.

Argentina manhandled the undersized Bahamas 74-53 in the first game played in the week-long tournament that serves as the qualifier for the World Games in 2014.

Although the Bahamas, coached by Quinton “Three Ounce” Hall, stayed close in the first three quarters, Argentina managed to turn up the heat in the fourth quarter as they pulled away from a 54-42 half-time lead into a 21-point rout.

In what started as a defensive battle, Argentina made the Bahamas force the penetration as they made a lot of errors.

Capitalising on the Bahamas’ mistakes, Argentina took a slim 20-16 lead at the end of the first period. Taking advantage of their height on the inside, Argentina was able to clamp down on the Bahamas as they surged to a comfortable 10-point, 34-24 half-time lead.

Throughout the third quarter, the Bahamas tried to contain Argentina by going to a man-to-man defense, but that didn’t make any difference. Argentina still managed to get the ball on the inside as they dominated in the paint to stay ahead, pushing their margin to 54-42 at the end of the period.

Utilising their outside game, the Bahamas was led by guard Daejour Adderley, who played 33 minutes and scored a side high 15 points, shooting 4-of-11 from behind the three-point arch, 1-of-5 from the field and 1-of-3 from the free throw line.

Deondre Vilmar, also playing 33 minutes, had 13 points on 5-of-14 from the field and 3-of-6 from the foul line. Point guard Shamar Burrows finished with 10 points in 36 minutes. He was 4-of-8 from the field and 2-for-4 from the charity stripe. Quemah Gibson was the most productive big man in 36 minutes with seven points, 10 rebounds and five block shots.

While the entire 12-man team played, only three others scored. Sebastian Gray had five points, Shamal Miller two and Oswald Parker ended up with just one.

Argentina had four players in doubles figures, led by Lucio Delfino’s 18 points and 17 rebounds.

Argentina out-rebounded the Bahamas 58-38. The Bahamas committed 18 turnovers, compared to 14 by Argentina, who also had 10 steals against only one for the Bahamas.

The Bahamas, however, came up with 10 blocks, half of the total produced by Argentina. But Argentina had 14 assists and the Bahamas had nine.

The Bahamas and Argentina are playing in Group A with Mexico and the United States. Today, the Bahamas is slated to face Mexico and the United States on Thursday.

The Bahamas will have to win two games in order to be able to advance to the playoff in a bid to be one of the four teams that will qualify for the World Games.

The remaining teams are playing in Group B - Puerto Rico, Uruguay, Canada and Chile. The Bahamas qualified by finishing third at the 2012 Centrobasket Under-15 Championship in El Salvador.

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