Basketball: Bahamas beats Cuba in America Cup 25 qualifier.

 

HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 21 (ACN) Bahamas beat Cuba 97-74 in its capital city of Nassau, taking away any chance for the Cubans to qualify for the upcoming America Cup 2025.

From the start of the game, the Bahamian team was unstoppable, opening the scoreboard with a 26-20 first quarter.

The pace intensified in the second quarter, when a 15-0 run sealed the difference, ending the first half with a 51-34 score.

The offensive outburst of the Bahamians resulted in an insurmountable advantage, while the Bahamian Tavario Miller stood out as the star of the game by scoring 30 points with great effectiveness.

For its part, the Cuban team, despite a better percentage in field goal shooting (50.8% compared to 49.4%), could not counteract the dominance of the Bahamas in two-point shots and in the execution of free throws, where it registered only 33.3% compared to 44.4% rival.

In the third and fourth quarters, Cuba's effort proved insufficient to reverse the situation, culminating in a defeat that reinforces the superiority of the rival.

Much of the merit of the Bahamas' victory was their rebounding, especially on offense, with 19 offensive rebounds, which translated into 19 second chance points that kept them on top of the scoreboard for 37 minutes of the 40 total.

The Bahamas also took advantage of having more depth on their bench, their players scored 35 points despite not starting on the court.

Cuba in this section was depleted by having only 9 players registered. The outcome of the match takes on greater relevance when considering the difficult scenario that the Cuban national team is going through.

According to sources reported to the Cuban News Agency, the shortage of players due to problems in the processing of entry to the Bahamian country, left the team with only nine of the 15 players called up.

As a result, Cuba was missing key players such as Yoanki Mensia, Howard Saint-Roos and Karel Guzman, which increased the pressure on the team led by Osmel Planas, which was playing against the Bahamas.

FIBA regulations provide for an automatic 20-0 loss if the visa situation is not resolved for the game against Puerto Rico, scheduled for Sunday, further complicating the task of qualifying.

The absence of key players and administrative difficulties have set the tone for this qualifier, leaving a bitter lesson for the Cuban team.