The Tribune

By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas senior men’s national basketball team concluded the final window of the FIBA AmeriCup 2025 qualifiers with a 105-83 loss to the USA but managed to accomplish their main goal of qualifying for the FIBA AmeriCup 2025 last night at the Kendal GL Isaacs Gymnasium.

A pivotal victory against Cuba in the opening game of the final window helped the host team to finish in the top three to advance out of Group D.

Team Bahamas finished second in the Group D standings with a 2-4 (win/loss record) and eight points.

The USA held their own in Group D to wrap up with a 5-1 record and 11 points for the first spot. 

Puerto Rico clinched the final qualification spot with a 2-3 record and seven points. 

After shooting Cuba out of the gym last Thursday, Team Bahamas was on the receiving end of the three-point barrage against the USA last night. Coach John Lucas III discussed what went wrong for Team Bahamas in last night’s game.

“We beat ourselves tonight. We have to be just a little more disciplined. We got every shot we wanted but we turned the ball over, stopped trusting the pass and stopped playing for each other and they just capitalised off bad shots, our turnovers and their offensive rebounding,” he said.

“I am very proud of the guys and our whole goal was to qualify for the next round and we did that. We accomplished one goal and now the next goal is to try to go there and win it all.”

Team Bahamas had four players score in double digits with guard Domnick Bridgewater leading the charge with 19 points, five assists and two steals.

Franco Miller Jr poured in 18 points, four assists and four rebounds but he only shot 40 per cent from the field.

Tavario Miller Sr pitched in 14 points and Lathaniel Bastian scored 10 points.

Nassir Little led the USA in scoring with 16 points to pair with 7 rebounds and a steal. 

Javonte Smart also pitched in 16 points to go along with six rebounds and three assists. 

The opening quarter was tightly contested between the USA and the host team. 

Bahamian veteran Jaraun “Kino” Burrows threw down a dunk to give his team an 18-17 lead in the final minutes of the first before closing out the quarter behind 26-22.

In the second quarter is where Team USA started to make a run. 

Sammy Hunter cleaned up a missed layup by Franco Miller Jr and pulled the home team within 5 (38-33) at the 3:06 mark.

Team USA responded with a 7-0 run that shifted the score to double digits, 45-33.

Team Bahamas fell behind 48-36 at the halftime break.

The host team shot 33 per cent from the field while the USA made 44 per cent in the first half and that trend continued the rest of the way.

Team Bahamas showed some signs of life in the second half. They mounted a 10-3 run to shave the deficit to just 11 (59-48) with less than five minutes remaining.

The USA’s Jahimus Ramsey along with Miller Kopp nailed back-to-back buckets that pushed the lead up to 16 (66-50).

Team USA took control of the game 73-56 with one quarter remaining and the rest was history.

They went up by as much as 24 points in the fourth to put the nail in the coffin in front of a deflated home crowd.

The USA shot the ball at an efficient 52.6 per cent while holding Team Bahamas to 38.3 per cent shooting from the field.

They won the rebound battle 48-42.

The USA also dominated the paint 58-44.

Despite the tough loss, coach Lucas believes Team Bahamas has the talent to compete with any team but needs to get more playing time together.

“We are there. We have the talent and we have everything we need. It is just about us building now. Like I told the guys I am very proud of them a lot of these guys are high level guys it is just about us getting together earlier and being able to get more reps in before games,” he said.

The Bahamas senior men’s national basketball team will try to make a run at the 2025 FIBA AmeriCup slated for August 23 to 31 in Managua, Nicaragua.