NASSAU (Bahamas) - While both teams had already qualified for the second round of the FIBA Basketball World Cup Americas Qualifiers, Dominican Republic and Bahamas put on a thrilling showcase of basketball as Dominican Republic took the win 88-80.

Each team was looking for a win for their own reasons - Dominican Republic wanted to finish their first round campaign on a high after a tough fought battle against Canada, while Bahamas wanted to ride the wave of their second round qualification from the previous game.

In the first half it was Victor Liz versus Buddy Hield, as the two went back and forth carrying their respective teams on the offensive side as Liz had tallied 18 points by the half while Hield scored a whopping 21 as Dominican Republic led 46-33.

Dominican Republic’s lead came from their bench help as Eloy Vargas and Angel Delgado tipped in 9 and 8 points respectively to help elevate their gap from Bahamas as they had no answer for Hield.

The game continued to be a back and forth effort at even strength as each team made adjustments - Bahamas found some bench help at the hands of Travis Munnings and Franco Miller, while Dominican Republic’s trio of Delgado, Vargas and Liz controlled the game to keep their lead just far enough away.

While Dominican Republic struggled with the added pressure causing more turnovers that allowed Bahamas to crawl back in, they controlled the game defensively with steals, blocks, securing rebounds on both ends of the court and forcing Bahamas to shoot under 50 percent as a team.

The final quarter saw the best of Bahama offensively, dominating the rim and closing the gap to single digits, but the slow start in the first quarter would stop them from being able to come back in the end.

Dominican Republic’s physical game that flustered Canada did the same to Bahamas and helped them score effortlessly in the paint, which would ultimately secure them the win and second place in Group C for the first round.

Hield led all scorers with 29 points on 68 percent shooting, and Travis Munnings added 14 as Bahamas led a comeback charge in the second half.

Liz added 26 points of his own as Vargas added 17 and Delgado added 15, with Dominican Republic shooting 55 percent as a team in the win.

FIBA