SANTO DOMINGO (FIBA Basketball World Cup Americas Qualifiers 2019) – With their triumph on Thursday against Venezuela, the Dominican Republic's national team are now on quite a favorable position to achieve their qualification to the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 in China. The Caribbean side register 7-4 and with another victory, against Brazil, they would secure their World Cup ticket. In case they lose, they still have the chance to qualify with their goal average that, although favorable for them now, must wait for the Puerto Rico and Uruguay results in Group E.

“Three teams are fighting for the two spots. In the other group they must define the third place between Uruguay or Puerto Rico, who will face each other on the last day, and we are currently the best fourth,” commented after the game the Dominicans’ coach, Melvyn López.

The match against Venezuela was crucial to be in the advantageous place they are now, and they took on the challenge with the full responsibility it required.

“Each one of the guys evidenced their efforts. We believe we designed a good game plan. Venezuela are very difficult rivals. It's not by chance they're among the top places, and we knew that this game would be very important. The fans got involved and that energized our players, that helped us in getting the victory,” said coach López.

“It was something we achieved as a team. We prepared the game well, we went out and gave a hundred percent. We knew how to jump back and recover our strength when we fell in a negative streak. This was a very important game, not only for us, but for the whole country,” analyzed Juan García, the team's leader in points, with 16.

“I've always been prepared to do what has to be done to help the team. I focused on doing the tasks for the defense and that's where my attack came from,” said the power forward about his performance.

Despite Venezuela’s success, López admitted that for the showdown at home against Brazil, on Sunday, and for the immediate future, the team must improve their anxiety control and their free throws.

“This is our sixth window as a group and we're still struggling against anxiety. These guys want to do things well and we're working on improving that, but it's not that easy when you go out to a full venue and you want to give a victory to your country. The free throws aspect has also been a challenge. It might be because of the intensity that we're exerting on the defense. Maybe that exhausts us and that's why the guys are not taking their time to shoot calmly,” he said.

The Dominicans have the perfect opportunity to qualify to their second consecutive World Cup, which would be the third in their history (Spain 2014 and Philippines 1978). Santo Domingo’s Palacio de los Deportes wants a celebration with the guys.

FIBA