Guyana got off to a losing start in the FIBA 2023 World Cup Americas Pre-qualifiers in El Salvador on Thursday night, going down to Nicaragua 73-84.
While the game was close at halftime, Nicaragua pulled ahead with a dominant third quarter, and though Guyana made a strong fightback in the final quarter, it wasn’t quite enough to secure a win.
Nicaragua had a 16-14 lead in the first quarter, and maintained the two-point advantage at halftime after both sides scored 26 each to make it 42-40.
However, Nicaragua went on a match-defining 21-9 run in the third quarter to take a 14-point lead at 63-49. Though Guyana outscored their opponents 24-21 in the final quarter, it was Nicaragua who emerged with full points from the encounter to go top of the table.
Jared Ruiz had a game-high 29 points (nine rebounds, six assists) for Nicaragua; Norchad Omier had 14 and Vansdell Thomas 13. For Guyana, skipper Stanton Rose led from the front, scoring 20 points (10 rebounds, four assists); Delroy James had 15 and Terron Welch 10.
In the earlier game, Jamaica prevailed 69-67 over Costa Rica. Host El Salvador is the other participating nation; the teams play in a round-robin format.
On Friday, Guyana will play Jamaica from 18:00h and El Salvador will come up against Costa Rica from 21:00h.
The top three teams will advance to the second round of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Americas Pre-Qualifiers in July 2021. All Guyana matches are aired on E-Network Channel 2.
