Puerto Rico eased into the second round of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 with a wire-to-wire 107-89 drubbing of China Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City in front of 7,166 fans.
The 12 Magnificos entered Group I with a 2-1 record as they opened their campaign with a 101-96 overtime win over South Sudan and then suffered a 94-77 loss to Serbia before this match.
Puerto Rico shall face the Dominican Republic this Friday and Italy this Sunday.
The Puerto Ricans bucked a slow start to lead 57-39 thanks to George Conditt’s lay-up at the 8:01 mark of the third quarter.
Team Dragon, though, executed a 16-7 run capped off by Li Kaier’s lay-up to trim the deficit to 64-55 with 4:21 remaining in the third quarter.
However, the 12 Magnificos finished the game strongly. Conditt gave his side their biggest lead at 102-79 with 49 seconds left in the game.
“The way we played tonight was terrific,” said coach Nelson Colon. “We got six players in double figures. We controlled the boards, less turnovers and made a lot of assists, offensive rebounds.”
“We played, I think, our best game here in Manila. This is a good moment for us. We clicked and we’re gonna be ready for the next chapter,” he continued.
Tremont Waters led Puerto Rico with 22 points while Ismael Romero had 18 points and 10 rebounds. Christopher Ortiz and Conditt contributed 13 and 12 points respectively.
Jordan Howard and Stephen Thompson Jr scored 11 points each for the 12 Magnificos.
In contrast, China fell to the classification stage with a 0-3 record. Rui Zhao led the Chinese with 16 points followed by Jiwei Zhao’s 14 points.
Mingxuan Hu and Hao Fu contributed 12 and 11 points respectively.
Team Dragon are set to face Angola tomorrow and host nation the Philippines this Saturday in Group M.
The Scores:
Puerto Rico (107) – Waters 22, Romero 18, Ortiz 13, Conditt 12, Howard 11, Thompson Jr 11, Holland 9, Pineiro 5, Ford 4, Toro Barea 2.
China (89) – R Zhao 16, J Zhao 14, Hu 12, Fu 11, Li 9, Q Zhou 8, P Zhou 5, Wang 4, Cui 4, Hu 3, Zhang 3.
Quarterscores: 23-16, 52-37, 78-69, 107-89
