SANTA CRUZ (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019) — It only took the United States less than five minutes to demonstrate their superiority against Cuba. The rest of the game was like a practice in the road to a transcendental match by the leadership of Group C of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 in China Americas Qualifiers.

A 15-0 advance to commence the game laid the foundation for an easy victory by the American side, 84-48, against their Cuban counterparts in Santa Cruz, California, in the close of Friday's game day of the Americas Qualifiers.

The United States kept their undefeated status in the windows and continue to be the leaders of their group, with a 3-0 record. On Monday night, the US will welcome Puerto Rico (2-1) in a key duel for the leadership of the section in which Mexico records 1-2 and Cuba 0-3.

Cuba were never a threat to the United States. Although the North Americans were discrete with their distance throws (6-27 from the three-point area), their strength in the paint (54-42 in rebounds) and their collective game (24-12 in assists) were more than enough against a Cuba that put up little resistance and that is now headed to a game that is fundamental for their aspirations and in which they will receive Mexico in Havana.
United States never allowed Cuba to reach 20 points in any quarter so tonight, the 16 points achieved in the second segment were the best offensive demonstration by the Cubans.

The 48 points achieved by Cuba are the lowest amount attained in these continental Qualifiers, below the 49 made by Paraguay and Colombia in their respective losses against Uruguay (in November) and Brazil (last Thursday).

"We have a bunch of good guys who are trying really hard. It shows, their energy and passion to play for their country and each other is commendable."Jeff Van GundyJeff Van Gundy

Xavier Silas led the American triumph with 13 points, while Rodney Purvis did 12. Devin Williams made a solid performance, with 12 rebounds, eight points and six assists. United States only lost the ball on seven occasions during the entire game. After the game, the guard said:

“I think that we played hard, but not hard enough. We had some mistakes that we must definitely fix before next game. It’s all about being relentless. We didn’t do that the entire time… We’re looking to come Monday with a little bit more effort.”Xavier Silas (USA)Xavier Silas (USA)

For Cuba, Yoanki Mensia was the most outstanding player of the night, with 11 points; while Osmel Oliva closely followed with 10. The star player of the Antillean nation, Javier Justiz, only made six points —although he did recover 10 rebounds. The Cubans did terribly on the offense after throwing an anemic 25.0% from the field. In fact, they scored the same number of free throws (10-2) than field goals (10-39).

FIBA