SURINAME (FIBA AmeriCup 2021 Caribbean Pre-Qualifiers) - It has been long since Haiti participated in these regional championship, almost 37 years! And what a statement they made against Barbados: final score 78 - 62. The Barbadian side had difficulties dealing with Jeantal Cylla of Haiti, he scored an astounding 33 points in his first international game for his homeland. He also received good support from Marvin Dominique who scored quite well with 18 points in total. Haiti played a solid game by converting the turnovers to points and pressed their opponents to make mistakes and thus be able to make a significant amount of 9 steals.

Barbados had difficulties scoring especially in the first and third quarter of the game, they even had a dry spell for nearly 7 consecutive minutes in the game. The last quarter they pushed hard and improved their offense by scoring more three pointers, but it wasn’t enough to make a comeback. Their top scorer was Akeem Marsh with 13 points, and he nearly accomplished a double double with his 9 rebounds. The coach of Barbados was somewhat disappointed with the result of the game but saw his put effort in the match. They need to find their balance and get used to train here in Suriname in order to deliver a good result in the next game against Antigua and Barbuda.

Bermuda vs Antigua and Barbuda final score was 91 - 78. The team play of Antigua was much better, double digits scoring from Adonis Humphreys (17 points), Lennox McCoy (16 points) and Ernest Scott III (12 points) helped them secure the win. In the first quarter Antigua dominated their opponents and created a lead of 12 points. This was crucial in their victory because in the second and third quarter Bermuda outscored them and closed the gap to 59 - 63 at the beginning of the fourth quarter.

This is where the excitement started; Bermuda leveled the score at 67 - 67 with 7 minutes yet to go. The score stayed even the next minutes but then the players of Bermuda played a more individual game and this cost them the match. Antigua didn’t hesitate and increased their advantage with 10 points in the following three minutes which they held on till end of the game. The coach said that it’s a learning process, and they need to work on improving their strategic play in these crucial situations.

Bermuda’s Jaren Julian Haley played an excellent game and scored 28 points. Together with Christopher Emils Crumpler (16 points) and Jason Lowe (10 points) they brought Bermuda close to victory.

Antigua and Barbuda claimed bronze in the last edition at Tortola, they’re determined to make it to the finals this year.

Guyana outscored Grenada in each quarter and won the match with 93 - 64 as the final score. It was a true team effort by Guyana were the ball rotation was quick and their set plays helped them make the points. Kevon Wiggins (18 points) and Shaine Webster (16 points) were the top performers and their contribution was significant in the win for Guyana. Wiggins focused on three pointers, and he scored 5 in total.

In the first quarter Grenada had difficulties passing Guyana’s defense, they ended the quarter with a 10 point deficit. The second quarter saw their scoring improve, but they still couldn’t close the gap with a halftime score at 44 - 32. Guyana increased the pressure after halftime and Grenanda couldn’t recover anymore. The top scorers of Grenada were Jehu La Feuillee and Jonathan Williams with 13 points.

The coach stated that they need to adapt to playing on a wooden floor, they are accustomed to a concrete playing surface. They hope that they can have enough training on the wooden floor during practice, it can help them find their balance in the tournament.

The host, Suriname, started strong with a 80 - 61 win over St. Lucia. Suriname had a flying start and made their shots count within the first minutes of the game. They ended the quarter with an 8 point advantage mainly due to St. Lucia struggling to score. The first half also saw a three-point fest of the host, they scored a total of 8 and brought the score to 42 - 32 after the first half. St. Lucia fought back in the third quarter by improving the score to 57 -52. Yandell Denis was their top contributor with 15 points but St. Lucia didn’t see another player of them stepping up and making the difference in the game. During the press conference St. Lucia stated they will change their strategy and come back strong in the tournament, they believe they can play better. They didn’t expect Suriname to shoot the ball like this and were surprised by their play.

Suriname outscored their opponents in the last quarter by improving their defense and adapting their strategy to score more from the paint. Dancell Leter had an outstanding performance of 23 points and Gylan Watamaleo who scored a good 16 points. The Surinamese coach said they tried multiple defense strategies during the game to see what works best. For the next game they have prepared some tactics and will test it during the game.

FIBA