2013 FIBA Americas Championship : Dominican Republic, Canada, Puerto Rico and Venezuela win

The Dominican Republic, Canada, Puerto Rico and hosts Venezuela won their respective matches on DAY 1 of the second round of the 2013 FIBA Americas Championship at Caracas. Here are the results

Dominican Republic 78 – 60 Jamaica

The Dominican Republic had an easy outing against Jamaica in their first match of the second round of the 2013 FIBA Americas Championship. The Dominican Republic won the first and second quarter 17 – 11 and 25 – 11 respectively to lay the foundation for their win. Although Jamaica took the third quarter 16 – 15, the Dominican Republic took the last quarter 21 – 15 to win the match comfortably by 78 -60. James Feldeina was the best performer for the Dominican Republic with 22 points and 5 rebounds, while for Jamaica, the best performer was Akeem Scott with 21 points and eight rebounds.

Mexico 67 – 89 Canada

Another probable semifinalists of the championship, Canada, eased past Mexico 89 – 67 to start the second round with a win. Canada took the first and second quarter 21 – 18 and 19 – 13 respectively with Mexico taking the third quarter 27 – 20. But Canada was too hot to handle for Mexico in the last quarter as they dominated the last quarter and won it by 29 – 9 to win the match by comfortably by 89 – 67 margin. Brady Heslip lead Canada with 21 points, followed by Andrew Rautins, with 19 points, and Cory Joseph, with 17 points, while Orlando Mendez and Gustavo Ayon scored 23 & 19 points respectively for Mexico.

Argentina 80 – 94 Puerto Rico

The only undefeated team in the 2013 FIBA Americas Championship, Puerto Rico continued their dominance in the second round of the championship by defeating Argentina 94 – 80 in the opening game of the second round. But Argentina gave an early warning to Puerto Rico by winning the first quarter 23 – 14. Puerto Rico came out more organized and went all out after the first quarter as they took the remaining three quarters 30 – 26, 26 – 13 and 24 – 18 respectively to win the match 94 – 80. Renaldo Balkman was the top scorer with 23 points and 6 rebounds for Puerto Rico, while Luis Scola top scored with 23 points and 8 rebounds for Argentina.

Venezuela 70 – 64 Uruguay

The last match of day 1 of second round of the championship, Hosts Venezuela beat Uruguay 70 – 64. the hosts took the first two quarters 18 – 13 and 17 – 13 respectively while the third quarter was tie with both teams scoring 21 points each. Much to the joy of the home crowd, the hosts took the last quarter 17 – 14 to win the match 70 – 64. Rafael Perez scored 14 points for Venezuela, followed by Michael Marriaga , with 10 points. Nicolas Mazzarino scored 18 points and Esteban Batista scored 17 points for Uruguay.

10 teams affiliated to the FIBA Americas sub-zone are fighting for the continental honours at the 2013 FIBA Americas Championship, which are being held in Venezuela. The top four teams qualify for the 2014 FIBA World Cup in Spain. The final of the championship will be played on September 11, 2013.