Trying their best, but failing yet again were Team Guyana who registered another loss in the FIBA World Cup Central America and the Caribbean Pre-Qualifiers 2023. This time it was to Costa Rica 78-75, spelling the end of the road for Team Guyana who lost all four of their matches.
Costa Rica held off the final-quarter push from Guyana, who entered the fourth trailing by 10 (66-56), and quickly tied it at 66 after two minutes at the José Adolfo Pineda National Gymnasium in El Salvador.
Costa Rica then recovered the lead and had the game 77-69, with 4:05 minutes left on the clock. Guyana challenged with a three-pointer from Delroy James, which brought them closer 77-75, with 2:11 remaining. But after that effort, Guyana apparently ran out of fuel and could not score another basket. Credit also goes to the winners who made three consecutive defensive stops to secure the result.
Forward Daniel Shedden led Costa Rica with 19 points, including four three-pointers, while Martinez had 14. James, with 29 points and 12 rebounds, was the most prominent player for Guyana, followed by Stanton Rose Jr with 16.
At the end of the competition, Rose Jr had scored a total of 74 points over the four games with an average of 18.5 per game. His deputy, Delroy James a total of 89 points with an average of 22.3 per game. The only other two players to fall within a respectable mark were Anthony Moe and Deylon Bovell with 45 and 40 points each, at an average of 15 and 10 per game.
On the last day of action, Nicaragua will meet Costa Rica (4:00pm local time) and Jamaica will go up against hosts El Salvador (7:00pm), to solidify the three teams that will advance to the second round of the FIBA ??World Cup Pre-Qualifiers 2023, to be held in July. (Adapted from fiba.basketball)
