The Dominican U16 basketball team defeated Puerto Rico 75-67 (18-8/22-22/16-20/19-17) in the FIBAAmericas U16 continental championship being played in Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico.
Danny Jordan Carbuccia led the Dominican attack with 20 points and eight assists and was the motivational leader on the court; David Almonte 13, Wandy Muñoz 11 and Yeison Liberato 10, Luis Díaz contributed five and nine rebounds and Rodrigo Farías eight points.
For Puerto Rico, Alejandro Avilés 17 points and 12 rebounds; Luis Marín 11, eight rebounds and seven assists.
The Dominican Republic maintained command of the game all game, although the Puerto Ricans got within one point when Misael Cruz Rodríguez converted two free throws with 5:07 left to play in the third quarter and in the last quarter they pulled within two with 2:30 to play, thanks to a basket by Keven Adorno (65-67).
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Here Carbuccia came up with a three-pointer, assisted by Liberato with 2:02 to play to put the game 70-65. Liberato followed with two more points (72-65) with 1:01 to go. Puerto Rico failed on offense in the final minutes, as well as some turnovers.
The Dominican Republic (2-1) plays in Pool B, which is led by the United States (3-0). Thursday is a rest day.
Free throws were a nightmare for the DR as they shot 21-7 (33%). Puerto Rico, who shot 20-12 (60%), won the rebounds 62-38.
In assists, the merengueros gave up 25 against 15 of their rivals, who lost 22 balls against 17 of the Dominicans.
