USA runs past The Bahamas 99-59 in AmeriCup qualifier

The United States dominated both the boards and points in the paint en route to a lopsided win over a shorthanded Team Bahamas at the FIBA AmeriCup 2022 Qualifiers.

Nashad Mackey led The Bahamas with 13 points, six rebounds and three steals in a 99-59 loss to the Americans on match day three of the latest window, yesterday at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, Indiana.

D’Shon Taylor scored 12, Jaron Cornish and Mychel Thompson both scored seven and Godfrey Rolle led The Bahamas with five assists.

The USA outrebounded The Bahamas 55-32 and had a 22-point advantage on scoring in the paint, 42-20. The rebounding edge also helped the USA outscore The Bahamas 16-9 on second chance points.

Amile Jefferson led five Americans in double figures and posted a double double with 17 points and 11 rebounds on 7-8 shooting from the field. John Jenkins and Tyler Hall each scored 12, Levin Randolph scored 11 and Travis Trice finished with 10 points and six assists.

The Bahamas shot just 30 percent from the field and 24 percent from three-point range while The USA shot 51 percent from the field and 41 percent from beyond the arc. The Bahamas was in contention for much of the first before a Trice jumper as time expired gave the USA a 24-14 lead.

They outscored The Bahamas 29-15 in the second to take a 53-29 lead at the half.

The lead reached as much as 43 in the second half.

Eleven of the 12 players on the USA roster scored and all logged at least seven minutes of playing time. Trice, Randolph and Hall were the only players to log over 20 minutes.

The Bahamas had just eight players available and Taylor played a game high 32 minutes followed by 30 minutes from Mackey and Rolle.

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GODFREY Rolle in action for Team Bahamas yesterday. Photos by Marc Lebryk

It will be a quick turnaround for Team Bahamas as they face Puerto Rico this afternoon at 4pm local time.

Games will be streamed live on the FIBA Facebook page and on ESPN+, but no fans or outsiders will be allowed inside the bubble for the games.

The United States (3-0) is the lone unbeaten team in Group D thus far. Mexico and Puerto Rico faced off in the second game of the double header last night, however, results were unavailable up to press time.

The top three teams from each group will qualify for the FIBA AmeriCup 2022. AmeriCup is the FIBA Americas championship. The United States won the last edition of the event in 2017.