Monster second half guides Mexico past Puerto Rico and into second place

INDIANAPOLIS (United States) - Ahead of a critical matchup vs. USA on Monday, Mexico took care of business by defeating Puerto Rico 81-56 in Group D of the FIBA AmeriCup 2022 Qualifiers.

Mexico, which jumped the Bahamas for second place in the standings, was led by their dynamic guard duo of Lucas Martinez (18 points) and Paul Stoll (14 points). The two combined to hit seven 3-pointers and their shot making opened up the floor for Gabriel Villarreal (13 points) and others.

While the guard play was key, it was ultimately Mexico’s pressure defensively that helped separate themselves from Puerto Rico. The club forced 21 turnovers, snagged nine steals and kept the talented Ivan Gandia (23 points) and Jose Gadiel Rodriguez (six points) from successfully beginning set plays without relentless aggressiveness.

Mexico had 22 turnovers of their own, but their pick-and-roll game offensively was crisp and their size advantage in the paint created numerous second-chance opportunities. Puerto Rico has just two players over 6’8” on their roster and they only played limited minutes. That gave Mexico the clear upper hand on the interior as they won the battle on the glass by 23.

It looked like Mexico was going to run away with the game in the opening half as they jumped out to a quick 8-0 lead and eventually led by as many as 16 points in the second quarter. Puerto Rico rallied though, using their stellar shooting and a monster 20 points from Gandia. The club even closed out the half with momentum after Rodriguez buried a trey with just 2.2 seconds remaining to cut the deficit down to three.

That burst of success didn’t turn out to be enough for Group D’s last-place squad, though. Mexico outscored them in the third period by clamping down their defensive effort against Gandia and getting Martinez and Stoll more open looks. They finally poured it on with a quick run to begin a fourth quarter that ended with 27 Mexico points and a margin of 18 between the two teams across 10 minutes.

Puerto Rico (0-3) will finishing out their second window of Qualifiers with a matchup vs. the Bahamas on Monday, while Mexico (2-1) will look to shock the No. 1 FIBA ranked club at 19:30 Local Time.

FIBA