By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

MINISTER of Youth, Sports and Culture Mario Bowleg said he was pleased with what he saw from the men’s national basketball team in La Banda, Argentina.

Bowleg, the former president of the Bahamas Basketball Federation and men’s national coach, was in the stands as the men’s team knocked off Argentina 82-75 on Sunday to win the FIBA Americas Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament title.

In what turned out to be an historic feat, the Bahamas earned the rights to compete in the 2024 Olympic Games Qualifying Tournament for the rights to advance to the Olympic Games in Paris, France.

“To God be the glory for great things he has done,” Bowleg said. “This is just amazing how we could reach this milestone as we celebrate 50 years of Independence as a nation.

“In the year of our Independence, we were able to reach the position of knocking on the door of qualifying for the Olympics for the first time in any team sport.”

Looking back at where the Bahamas Basketball Federation came from under the leadership of the past presidents, Bowleg tipped his hat to all who would have paved the way to get the Bahamas to where the country has arrived today.

“I was just so happy to be there as the former president and the former coach who would have toiled with some of the former players and even some of the existing players to see this come to fruition where we are knocking on the door of qualifying for the Olympics,” Bowleg said. “I was elated and overjoyed and just like the players and coaches, there were tears of joy to see this come to a reality. Going into the game, we knew that we would beat Argentina again and so said, so done.”

Bowleg said he was extremely pleased with the efforts turned in by the National Basketball Association players in Eric Gordon and Deandre Ayton, who will be playing together for the first time this season with the Pheonix Suns and Chavano ‘Buddy’ Hield with the Indiana Pacers.

He said head coach Chris DeMarco, who serves as an assistant coach with the Golden State Warriors, did a tremendous job with his coaching staff, including Moses Johnson and Mikhail McLean, in blending the rest of the players on the team to produce the victory.

Gordon, in making his debut for the Bahamas, led the way with a game high 27 points, including hitting three three-pointers down the stretch, while Hield had 17 points, five rebounds and three assists and Ayton added 10 points and 21 rebounds.

Travis Munnings contributed 16 points, while Franco Miller Jr had nine and Kentwan Smith helped out with five. The other members of Team Bahamas’ roster were Domnick Bridgewater, Rashad Davis, Lourawls Nairn, Jaraun Burrows, Garvin Clarke Jr and David Nesbitt. The team manager was LJ Rose.

With the ministry throwing their support behind the federation, Bowleg said it’s going to be important to ensure that the team do all the right things to get ready for the qualifying tournament in July. “One thing we must do is we must continue to seek those players who are Bahamian descent and try to ensure that we have these guys ready to compete,” Bowleg said. “We have some players who are born inside the country and some who were born outside of the country.

“So, there are a lot of players out there, some who will have to be naturalised and so, at the end of the day, we will take the necessary steps to ensure that those who want to compete will get the opportunity to do so. We just want to lay out the red carpet for those who want to play to be able to play for the Bahamas.”

Under FIBA, Bowleg said there’s a limit on how many naturalised players can play for a country, but in discovering the players who have an interest, Bowleg said they will be looking at how they can allow them to participate for the Bahamas in the future.

Bowleg, who is on his way home, said he’s been pleased with the performance of the Bahamian athletes in swimming, winning the Goodwill Games for the first time and those athletes who are now participating in the World Championships.

“We’re looking forward to some better results in track and field. We expected some better results, but we know that Steven Gardiner is hanging in there and hopefully, at the end of the day, all hope is not lost,” he said.

He said the Bahamas Government is supporting the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations in hosting the return of the World Relays in the Bahamas next year before the focus of attention is switched to Paris for the Olympics.

“We know that the potential is there, so we hope to continue to push them in their success,” Bowleg said. “We are very pleased with the way things have been going for sports in the country right now.”

As for the men’s basketball team, Bowleg said there’s not expected to be a celebration for the players anytime soon as the majority of the players are moving onto their professional basketball teams or heading to college.

He noted that only Burrows and Bridgewater are expected to be home on Wednesday, but they will be leaving on Thursday for France and Hield, on the other hand, is expected to be coming to the Bahamas for a camp, but it’s not known exactly when.

“We had a celebration for the team at the hotel where they got a chance to eat, drink and be merry,” Bowleg said. “But we know that there will be an opportunity when we get them all together for a celebration at home. We just don’t know when. “Right now, the federation is looking at ways of strengthening the team as we look forward to walking into the doors of the Olympic Qualifying Tournament next year when the celebrations will continue as we qualify for the Olympic Games.”