THE Dominican Republic jumped the gun on Group A favorite Italy in the third quarter and held the fort the rest of the way to pull off an 87-82 upset for a guaranteed spot in the knockout phase of the FIBA World Cup on Sunday at the Araneta Coliseum.
The Dominicanos kept the Italians within reach in the first two quarters—13-19 and 38-39—then torched their opponents with nine triples—the Italians only made one—to take control, 69-56.
Victor Liz—who fished Jordan Clarkson’s fifth foul in the Dominican Republic’s 87-81 victory over the Philippines Friday—pushed his team to 85-74 with a minute to go.
The Italians, however, furiously fought back and threatened at 85-82 only to lose time and the game with Lester Quinones icing the win from the foul line with 17 seconds remaining.
“We tried to be close because we know they play transition and wide open basketball,” Dominican Republic coach Nestor Garcia said. “They have good shooters and ball handlers. So we played with counter games and prevented committing errors.”
If Italy had shooters as Garcia said, the Dominicanos outshot them from three-point territory by converting 16 of 39 attempts to the Italians 7 of 29 tries.
“Italy played lethal that’s why you don’t have to give them opportunities,” Garcia said.
National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns was again the Dominicanos’ top player with his 24 points, 11 rebounds and five assists.
Andres Feliz also had 24 points—21 on three-pointers—with five rebounds and five assists for the Dominicanos who now have a 2-0 win-lost record.
Marco Spissu had 17 points to lead the Italians, who dropped to 1-1. They beat Angola last Friday, 81-67.
Jean Montero had 12 points, nine assists, six rebounds and three steals for the Dominican Republic.
“Getting the job done,” Towns said. “I think we did a great job and found a way to win. Andres and everybody down the line was amazing. This was a great team win.”
Italy (1-1) led 12-0 to open the game but led only 39-38 at the half—and lost coach Gianmarco Pozzecco to a second-quarter ejection after he picked up his second technical foul.
Italy plays the Philippines to end group play on Tuesday, while the Dominican Republic takes on Angola.
Italy can still advance to the second round with a win on Tuesday, but the players know facing the home team in what will almost surely be an elimination game will be difficult.
“It’s going to be exciting,” Italy’s Luigi Datome said. “It’s going to be a nice atmosphere and all the players like to play in a nice atmosphere.”
GROUP E: GERMANY 85, AUSTRALIA 82
IN Okinawa, Dennis Schroder scored 30 points and added eight assists and Germany (2-0) closed in on a spot in the second round.
Maodo Lo scored 20 for Germany, which trailed by four entering the final quarter but opened it on a 10-0 run.
Australia tied the game twice in the fourth. Both times, Schroder had an immediate answer to reclaim the lead. His basket with 46 seconds left put Germany ahead for good.
Patty Mills, as he did in the first game, led Australia with 21 points, five rebounds and six assists. Matisse Thybulle had 17 for Australia, which was only 9 for 16 from the foul line.
Germany played without Franz Wagner, who sat with an ankle injury.
Australia could need a victory in its final group game against Japan — the home team in the group — on Tuesday to advance. Germany finishes group play against Finland.
GROUP H: CANADA 128, LEBANON 73
IN Jakarta, RJ Barrett scored 17 points as Canada overpowered Lebanon to continue its perfect start.
Trae Bell-Haynes added 15 points and eight assists for Canada (2-0), which opened with an impressive 95-65 win over France. Canada set a senior men’s national team record for points — it scored 126 against Jordan at the World Cup four years ago — and set a tournament record with 44 assists.
FIBA began keeping assist records in 1984.
After recording 27 points in his World Cup debut, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 12 points, five rebounds and five assists in 17 minutes. Canada used 11 players and nine reached double figures; the others were Melvin Ejim (13), Kelly Olynyk (12), Zach Edey (12), Nickeil Alexander-Walker (12), Kyle Anderson (10) and Dillon Brooks (10).
Canada shot 71%, and played without Lu Dort, who was held out with soreness. Former NBA player Omari Spellman led Lebanon with 16 points.
Canada plays Latvia on Tuesday in its final group game, while Lebanon faces France.
GROUP D: MONTENEGRO 89, EGYPT 74
IN Manila, Nikola Vucevic had 16 points and seven rebounds and Montenegro (2-0) had little trouble with Egypt.
Nikola Ivanovic scored 15 for Montenegro, while Kendrick Perry scored 11 and Vladimir Mihailovic and Dino Radoncic finished with 10 apiece.
Ehab Amin led all scorers with 26 points for Egypt (0-2), while Anas Mahmoud and Patrick Gardner each finished with 13.
A major difference was points off turnovers: Montenegro turned Egypt’s 22 giveaways into 30 points, while Egypt managed 17 points off Montenegro’s 16 turnovers.
Montenegro plays Lithuania on Tuesday, and Egypt will take on Mexico. With AP
Image credits: AP