BELGRADE (Serbia) – In the last game of the group phase at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Belgrade, the Dominican Republic raced out to an unsurmountable lead over the Philippines and never looked back to win, 94-67, as the victory clinched the final Semi-Finals spot. The players from the ‘Pearl of the Antilles’ will take on Italy, while Serbia will face Puerto Rico in the other side of the tourney bracket.
After a very close game in the first half, the blue jersey-wearing Dominican Republic team came strongly from the locker room after halftime, outscoring the “Gilas” team by sixteen points in the third. After that, the young Philippines squad could never surmount a real retaliation, leaving the OQT bubble with an 0-2 record but plenty of experience.
Winning the third quarter by 26-10 was a deciding factor for the Dominican Republic. Powered by the much better defensive energy and offensive adjustments made by coach Melvyn Lopez, the Dominican Republic team pushed their on-court rivals one-way the street and stymied their offensive attack.
Victor Liz was once again his team’s best bucket-getter, putting in 23 points with only one miss behind the three-point line (5-from-6), while Galvis Solano gave an energetic push to the squad while stuffing the stat line with 21 points, 6 assists, 3 steals and a couple of crowd-pleasing dunks.
In addition to a seven-rebound advantage over their opponent (39-32), the Dominican Republic took full advantage of points from turnovers, collecting 26 compared to only 9 from the Philippines.