Dominicans rev up the engine for Veracruz

SANTO DOMINGO (Central American and Caribbean Games) - The Dominican Republic national team has built some positive momentum in recent years, culminating with an appearance in the Round of 16 at the FIBA Basketball World Cup this summer.

Orlando Antigua’s side had to dig deep but advanced from a very difficult Group C in Bilbao before falling to Slovenia.

The country now wants to finish the year on a high with a strong performance at the Central American and Caribbean Games in Veracruz, Mexico, a tournament that gets underway on 24 November.

Antigua is getting his South Florida side ready for the American college basketball season, so the coach of the Dominicans in Mexico will be Jose (Boyon) Dominguez.

Most of the players at the World Cup have club commitments and can’t participate, but Manuel Fortuna will be in the Dominican squad when it travels to Veracruz.

The national side is also expecting to have national team captain Jack Martinez, point guard Juan Coronado and power forward Edward Santana join training this week with a view to making the journey to Mexico.

Another player currently practicing with the team is James Maye, a shooting guard in the Dominican side that finished third at the Centrobasket in August.

Others are Kelvin Pena, Juan Pablo Montas, Amaury Filion, Joel Ramirez, Juan Miguel Suero, Jose Fortuna, Brayan Martínez, Giancarlo Acosta, Jose Corporán, Jose Acosta and Luis Martínez.

The Dominicans will play in Group B in Veracruz against Panama, Costa Rica and Mexico.

The first aim is to finish in the top two and advance to the Semi-Finals.

FIBA