The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

IT wasn’t the performance that coach Moses Johnson anticipated from the men’s national basketball team in the opener of their two-game road trip in their final appearance in the FIBA Americas World Cup Qualifier.

The Bahamas, already out of contention for qualifying for the World Cup, had a chance to spoil the chances for Venezuela. But in their match-up last night in Caracas, Venezuela outscored the Bahamas 115-70.

Behind their roaring fans, Venezuela jumped out to an impressive 33-21 lead at the end of the first quarter.

They outscored the Bahamas 34-16 for a 67-37 halftime lead. They used another 25-14 spurt in the third and 23-11 in the fourth as they led from start to finish.

Venezuela had six players in double figures, led by David Cubillan with 16 points.

The Bahamas had three players in double figures, but it wasn’t enough as Venezuela held a slight 44-42 advantage on the boards and had a huge 31-9 difference in the assists category. The Bahamas also mde 26 turnovers, compared to nine by Venezuela.

Domnick Bridgewater went 6-for-19 from the field, 2-for-7 from the three-point line and 2-for-4 from the free throw line in 30 minutes and 13 seconds for 16 points with two rebounds and an assist. Ahmad Pratt also had 16 points in 15.05 as he connected on 5-for-8 from the field, 4-for-6 from the trey and 2-for-2 from the foul line with three rebounds.

Bradley Nairn, in 26:22 minutes on the court, helped out with 10 points as he went 2-for-8 from the field, 1-for-5 from the three-point line and 5-for-8 from the charity stripe. Kentwan Smith had nine points with 11 rebounds and Godfrey Rolle II also added nine points. Kadeem Coleby had six points and eight rebounds and Livingstone Munnings was the only other player to score with four points and six rebounds.

The Bahamas, 3-8 in fifth place in Group E, will now travel to Panama to play their next game on Sunday. Panama is in sixth place at 2-9.

Venezuela is in a three-way tie for second place at 8-3 with the Dominican Republic and Argentina behind front running Canada, who are 10-1.