SAN JUAN (2009 FIBA Americas Championship) - In a duel of two of the favorites to win the 2009 FIBA Americas Championship, Brazil defeated the Dominican Republic 81-68 in the second game of day one.

The exit of Charlie Villanueva and Al Horford due to foul trouble in the middle of the final quarter left them without power in the paint and the Brazilians took advantage of that to make a 10-0 run and have a 76-66 lead. Alex Garcia, Anderson Varejao and Leandro Barbosa sealed the game in the final minutes while the Dominicans didn't have an answer to a stingy defense.

After being down 19-13, the Dominican Republic came back led by Francisco Garcia and the first quarter finished 21-18 in favor of Brazil. Garcia led the Dominicans with 8 points while Brazil had Leandro Barbosa with 8 points.

In the second quarter the Dominican Republic made a 10-0 run that finished with a three pointer by Francisco Garcia to have a 32-28 lead with 4:01 left. Brazil came back and led at half 38-36 as Leandro Barbosa led with 10 points and Marcelinho Machado came from the bench to make nine points.

The downfall of the Dominican Republic came in the second half where they were issued a technical foul and their performance suffered. Despite those problems they finished the third quarter up 61-57 as Francisco Garcia had 17 points.

Brazil stayed in the game and took advantage of the problems of the Dominicans after the exit of their key players to make the final run. The Brazilian defense was also key to disrupt the powerful Dominican offense.

Alex Garcia and Leandro Barbosa led Brazil with 21 points each while Tiago Splitter had 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Francisco Garcia scored 17 points and Charlie Villanueva 14 for the Dominicans.

Luis Modestti
FIBA Americas

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