The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

After getting off to an impressive start in an historic win over Cuba in their opener on Monday, the men's national basketball team found the going rather tough against host Puerto Rico last night.

In a battle of two undefeated teams on day two of the CentroBasket Championships in San Juan, the Puerto Ricans took advantage of their home turf, routing the Bahamas 88-71 to remain undefeated at 2-0 in Group A of the qualifying tournament for the Tournament of Americas. The Bahamas dropped to 1-1 with the loss.

Efforts to contact the coaching staff - Larry Brown, Mario Bowleg and Wayde Watson - proved fruitless up to press time.

The Bahamas shot just 36.1 per cent on 26 of 72 shooting from the field, compared to Puerto Rico's 46 per cent on 29 of 63. The big difference came from behind the three-point arch where the Bahamas launched 17 shots and only completed one for a miserable 5.9 per cent. The Puerto Ricans connected on seven of their 25 treys for 28 per cent.

At the free throw line, the Bahamas completed 18 of their 35 charity shots (51.4 per cent) whereas the Puerto Ricans canned 23 of their 33 free throws (69.7 per cent).

The Bahamas was only out-rebounded 46-43 by the Puerto Ricans and the Bahamians made just one more turnover for an 18-17 margin. Puerto Rico got one more steal for a 9-8 edge, but both teams finished with three block shots.

The Puerto Ricans took an early 8-0 lead in the first quarter and although the Bahamas managed to cut it down to three, 10-7, that was the closest that they ever got. The Puerto Ricans surged ahead 20-11 at the end of the period.

The Bahamians were only out-scored 18-16 in the second quarter as they trimmed the deficit to 38-27 at the half. But in the third, the Puerto Ricans went on a 25-15 tear that extended their lead to 63-42.

In the fourth, the Bahamas put up its best quarter on a 28-25 spurt, but that wasn't enough to stop the 17-point rout.

Marvin Gray, who played 23 minutes, led the Bahamas with 14 points on 6-of-13 from the field for 46.2 per cent, 6-of-9 from the foul line for a 66.7 shooting percentage and 0-for-4 from the three-point line. He also had five rebounds and two assists.

Two other players were in double figures.

Gamaliel Rose, in his 12 minutes, shot 6-of-7 from the field (85.7 per cent) and 1-for-3 from the foul line (33.3 per cent) and he added three rebounds, two steals and two assists.

Bennet Davis came off the bench and in 25.54 minutes, was 3-for-13 from the field (23.1 per cent) and 5-for-10 from the foul line (50 per cent) for his 11 points. He also had a game high 10 rebounds.

Leon Cooper helped out with nine points with three rebounds, Eugene Bain scored seven points and four rebounds, Rony Cadeau added five points and nine rebounds and both Keno Burrows and Kadeem Coleby chipped in with four points apiece.

The Puerto Ricans had four players in double figures.