The raucous Filipino crowd in their first game may have helped them adjust.
The Dominican Republic has pulled off an incredible upset at the FIBA World Cup after defeating Italy, 87-82, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Sunday.
Led by sharpshooter Andres Feliz and Minnesota Timberwolves star Karl Anthony-Towns, the Dominican Republic made a massive run in the third quarter, outscoring the Azzurri 31-17, to separate themselves from the 10th-ranked squad.
Towns finished with another double-double of 24 points and 11 rebounds to go along with 5 assists. Feliz also had 24 points. The guard's shooting, a blistering 7-of-10 from beyond the arc, kept the Dominicans in the game despite a slow start as Italy opened the game with a 12-0 run.
It also didn't help the Italians that coach Gianmarco Pozzecco was ejected in the second quarter after two technical fouls.
The Europeans though would have one final push in the final minutes of the game. This, however, proved to be too late.
After the game, Dominican Republic coach Nestor "Che" Garcia pointed out a big change in how they played versus Italy compared to their first match in the FIBA World Cup against Gilas Pilipinas.
"We played against the local team, a very good team and the crowd. [We were] nervous or anxious, I know that was a complicated way that we played. Today, we played more free," said Garcia.
This assessment rings true based on the box score. Against Gilas, the Dominican Republic side shot 21.4% from 3-point land. In the game against Italy, they nailed 41% of their long-range bombs.
KAT, on the other hand, underscored the team's effort on defense in the second half.
"We stepped up our defense, we made them miss," said Towns. "They were making a lot of shots in the first half, so we did a great job finding ways to make them miss and get the job done."
If Gilas wins on Sunday against Angola, the Dominican Republic will automatically book the first of two slots in Group A that will advance to next round.
(GM)