Bittersweet victory for Dominican Republic against Panama

Update: Edgar Sosa will have surgery today and will be in the hospital for two days. The injury was to the shinbone and fibula. There will be a six month recovery period.

Mar del Plata, Argentina - In the first game of the second round of the tournament, the Dominican Republic beat without any trouble Panama 92-68. It was a good performance from the winning team who had the highest scorer of the game, Flores with 17 points. There is worry for the injury of Edgar Sosa of the Dominican Republic.

The game started with a zone defense from Panama which worked against the Dominican attack, which is why the game was close with the Dominican Republic head 12-10 in the first five minutes. Thanks to a good job from Villanueva and Flores from outside the line and Martinez from inside the paint, the team coached by Calipari were getting ahead but two consecutive steals from Panama gave the opportunity of two effective fast breaks for Pinnock and close the first quarter 21-17 with the Dominican Republic ahead.

The second quarter was decisive of the game. A good start from Sosa gave the advantage to Domican Republic, but a quick reaction from Garces and Lloreda stopped the run quickly. After good passing from Garcia along with two three-pointer and the presence of Horford gave the lead back to the Dominicans who took were destroying the team of Rosario (coach of Panama). With the leadership of Flores they got the highest lead of the game up to that point to end the half 44-30.

A 4-0 run from Dominican Republic forced Panama to ask for a quick time out. There was no response from his team because the Dominicans kept controlling the game and stretch the score difference with a performance from Jack Michael Martinez and Charlie Villanueva who took over Flores. Panama bet on their inside game against a strong Dominican defense and left them down by 20 with 3 minutes on the clock (64-44). The difference was greater by the end with a score of 75-49.

Pinnock became the leader (making all the baskets) of a broken and beat Panama team, especially in a last quarter that saw baskets for both teams with no change of score. The last minutes served as resting time for his key figures and end with a score of: 92-68.

With 38 second left a bad fall from Edgar Sosa when penetrating the basket, which gave him a serious injury in one of his legs and was hospitalized. The first diagnostic was an open fracture of the tibia and perone and will be treated immediately.

Ignacio Saraceno
Twitter: @ignaciosaraceno

Photo: José Jiménez

 

POSICIONES FINALES
1.	Argentina
2.	Brazil
3.	Dominican Republic
4.	Puerto Rico
5.	Venezuela
6.	Canada
7.	Uruguay
8.	Panama
9.	Cuba
10.	Paraguay