BILBAO (FIBA Basketball World Cup) - The Dominican Republic's 74-68 win over Finland on Tuesday night was very special for coach Orlando Antigua.

For one, it made the FIBA Americas team the first - after the mighty USA - team to win two games in a row in the pot-boiler Group C, giving them an edge in the race to the top four.

But more importantly it was achieved under the leadership of his former player at the University of Kentucky.

Antigua, who is heading to the University of South Florida after the FIBA Basketball World Cup, was the assistant coach to John Calipari when Eloy Vargas played an important filling role in leading Kentucy to the 2011-12 NCAA title.

The Metros de Santiago center was to play yet another important role on a night when regular spearheads Francisco Garcia and Jack Martinez were laid low.

Vargas led the Dominican Republic's scoring with 18 points, 13 rebounds, a steal and 4 blocks. Eight of those points came in the third quarter when the team seized control of the proceedings, including five in the 10-0 searing run across the half-time break that helped Dominican Republic pull away in the even keeled contest.

"I'm really proud and happy of Eloy because I know him since he was probably 16-17," said a beaming Antigua.

"No. No," interjected Vargas.

"Since 13 coach," the 25-year-old clarified.

"I know he has great capabilities," Antigua went on.

"He's been really great with rebounding. And I'm glad the shots came through. I'm very proud of him. I expect that of him."

"It's a big win for us," Vargas said of the result.

It's a big win for our country. Our country has been waiting for 36 years to see us play here. This win is very special. - Vargas

Antigua further analysed the game.

"We did a great job of controlling the boards. We wanted to make it difficult. We wanted to control and limit them to less than 40 percent (shooting) from the floor. We did that," he said.

"I'm happy and proud of the way the guys responded and handled adversity. Especially proud of the guys who came off the bench. It was a full team effort. As a coach and staff we are proud of that."

Dominican Republic play back-to-back against the finalists of the 2010 FIBA World Championship - first the reigning champions the USA on Wednesday and last edition's runners-up Turkey the following day.

FIBA