OCEANSIDE (California) – The road to the FIBA Basketball World Cup is paved with tough wins in hostile environments, and few teams understand that better than the Dominican Republic. The team coached by Nestor “Che” García got up to a big early lead at Frontwave Arena in Oceanside, California and came away victorious, defeating United States 87-79 to win their fourth consecutive road game in the competition.
The streak started back in February of 2023 with a win over Panama in Panama City. Three days later, the Dominican Republic notched an epic victory in Mar del Plata, defeating Argentina on the road and preventing the 2019 FIBA World Cup finalists from qualifying to the event in Japan, Indonesia and Phillippines. Last November, Garcia’s squad picked up a 92-85 win in Zacatecas, Mexico, to extend the streak to three games before tonight’s triumph brought it to four, the longest for them in the history of the competition. What makes the achievement even more impressive is the context. The Dominican Republic was without several key players this window, including Andrés Feliz, Jean Montero, Chris Duarte and Lester Quiñones. NBA standouts Karl-Anthony Towns (New York Knicks) and David Jones-García (San Antonio Spurs) were also unavailable. Still, García constructed a resilient group around veteran center Ángel Delgado, and the team delivered with balance and poise. Five different players scored in double figures. “We’re missing a lot of guys,” Delgado said. “Guys important to our team and we did it without them. I know they’re very happy right now. They couldn’t come, they couldn’t be here and we just did it for our country and for our families.”
Jassel Perez had a 20-point, 10-rebound double-double. Gelvis Solano added 13 points and 8 assists, while Anderson Mejía (14 points), Jhery Matos (13) and Delgado (11) also kept the opposing defense honest. After the final buzzer, the team celebrated by chanting about “el grupito” – the little group of guys who got together to pull the upset. “I was telling our guys that nobody believed in us,” Delgado added. “Everybody doubted that we could win this game because the group that came here is a lot of young guys and a lot of guys that just play in the Dominican Republic. I told them at halftime, ‘we can do this.’” Dominican Republic (2-1) can now punch their ticket to the next round and extend their impressive streak with another road win over Nicaragua (0-3) in Managua on Sunday.
FIBA