By RENALDO DORSETT
Tribune Sports Reporter
rdorsett@tribunemedia.net
DOMINICK Bridgewater made the transition from a junior national team standout to a breakout performer on the senior national team.
Bridgewater came off the bench to lead The Bahamas to a 76-59 win over Mexico and credited the home crowd as the motivating factor behind the team's dominant performance.
"I just want to thank coach for having trust in me and putting me out there to prove that I can make those plays and moving forward I just want to be able to help this team any way I can," Bridgewater said.
"It was fun. Coming out of the loss in Mexico, coach told us we are going to miss some shots but we have to have confidence to take those shots and take care of business at home because it was so important for us. The Mexico crowd was with them, they helped them to get over the hump so we knew when we came home we needed that same support and we got that."
Mexico won game one 75-61 last week in Guadalajara, Mexico. In that game, the 19-year-old Bridgewater, who plays professionally in France, scored just four points.
BBF President Mario Bowleg also served as head coach and said it continues to be a pleasure to watch Bridgewater's growth and maturity.
"He has the patience to wait for his number to be called, to go on the floor and just do what he has to do. Like I said to him earlier, just play your game. Definitely he's the future point guard of this team so for him to perform like this now, he's going to cause havoc as time goes on and they will remember him for a very long time," Bowleg said.
"We need more of this, we need to ensure we have great succession planning. Three guys on the team now are in their mid 30s, who may not be moving on and it's important we have the young guys ready to step up."
At the junior national team level, Bridgewater was also a member of a pair of squads to represent the country. In 2016, he won MVP en route to leading the Bahamas to the gold medal of the Caribbean Basketball Confederation's Under-16 Tournament when he averaged 18.2 points and 3.8 assists per game. He followed with an appearance at the Centrobasket Under-17 Championships where he averaged 24.8 points, 8.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game.
This window of the FIBA AmeriCup Qualifiers was hosted at the Atlantis resort.
The Bahamas now looks ahead to the second window against the United States on November 27.
"I want to thank Baha Mar and the Government of the Bahamas. Knowing with the effects of Hurricane Dorian our major facility was taken away, they were able to provide a facility for us because the most important thing is that we were able to play home. As the game went along we had our 6th man - which is our crowd - behind us and it gave us that extra energy that we did not have in Mexico that allowed us to pull off this win," Bowleg said.
"Hats off to the guys, they played hard, they wanted it, they understood the importance of this win. With the move to the home-and-away series, we knew that after the loss in Mexico, with the adjustments, we would be able to bounce back at home."
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