By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

After winning their opening game by 11 points on Thursday at the Coliseo Roberto Clemente Gymnasium, The Bahamas men’s national basketball team watched helplessly as Puerto Rico came to town and turned the tables with a 19-point rout.

Puerto Rico, rebounding from their 88-77 loss to the Bahamas last week in the first game of their FIBA 2025 AmeriCup Qualifier, posted a 86-67 decision last night at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium as the two teams split their head-to-head encounter.

“We didn’t play with any aggression,” said Bahamas head coach Moses Johnson in trying to describe the difference in the two games. “We let them dictate the tempo, we let them dictate the pace.

“They were more aggressive, they dominated the offensive rebounds. This was just not our day. The guys just didn’t come out to fight.”

Puerto Rico, who led from start to finish, was led by Ismael Romero with a game high 22 points with five rebounds. Alfonso Plummer had 11 points with five assists and Tjader Fernandez added 10 points with five steals and four assists and as many rebounds.

For Team Bahamas, NBA free agent Kai Jones paced the way with 14 points, nine rebounds and two block shots.

Domnick Bridgewater had 13 points and Tavario Miller chipped in with 11 points and seven rebounds.

Jones, back on the team after missing the Bahamas’ victory at the America’s Pre-Olympic Qualifying Tournament, said he was delighted to be given another opportunity to play.

“When I got the invite to play, I was excited,” Jones said.

But he admitted that, as a team, they didn’t have the continuity to deal with Puerto Rico and that made the difference in the outcome.

But he said if they can stay positive and play with a little more aggression, they will be better for the next window of the AmericaCup in November.

In last night’s game, Eron Gordon and Kentwan Smith both contributed seven points and Jaraun “Kino” Burrows helped out with six down the stretch in the fourth quarter. “It was definitely a let down,” Smith said. “They had higher energy than us. They were the more physical team, which resulted in us getting more turnovers. They took the momentum throughout the game.”

Puerto Rico was able to stave off any comeback that The Bahamas made, especially in the second quarter and the fourth quarter in particular when it counted the most.

Coming out of a time-out with 5:02 left, Godfrey Rolle and Tavario Miller hit consecutive three-pointers to trim the deficit to 67-46.

Jaraun Burrows converted a pair of free throws for a 68-58 deficit.

At the 2:21 mark, Bridgewater hit a three-pointer to slice the margin to 80-63.

Puerto Rico used an 8-0 run to extend their lead to 52-28 in the first two and-a-half minutes as coach Moses Johnson called a time out.

But with 3:18 on the clock, Rashad Davis gave the fans something to cheer them up as he connected on a three-pointer for a 60-41 deficit.

Puerto Rico, however, kept that intensity as they outscored The Bahamas 6-2 the rest of the way to push their lead to 66-42 at the end of the third.

Ismael Romero scored eight in the period for Puerto Rico and both Rashad Davis and Eron Gordon had five, along with four from Kai Jones.

Like they did in the first period, Puerto Rico started the second quarter on an 8-2 run, highlighted by a break away two-handed dunk from Christian Negron to go up 34-16.

This forced coach Moses Johnson to call a time out.

Every time the Bahamas made a dent in the lead, Puerto Rico answered with at least two baskets to surge ahead 44-28 at the half as Reed led the attack with seven.

Jones led the way with six, including a monster two-handed baseline dunk, but it wasn’t enough to derail Puerto Rico.

In the first quarter, David Nesbitt completed a three-point play and Domnick Bridgewater got a steal and a lay-up to take their first lead, 9-8.

But Puerto Rico went up again 13-9 with 4:39 on the clock to force Moses Johnson to call a time out.

With 1:35 left, Kai Jones hit a three-pointer and dazzled his opponent for a two-dunk to cut the deficit to 22-14. Puerto Rico then went on a mini run to surge ahead 26-16 at the end of the first break.

Ismael Romero led Puerto Rico with 10 points and Davon Reed added seven. Jones led the Bahamas with five.

It was a good turn out of Bahamians in the stands to support the team.

“Definitely when we have this kind of support, we have to do better,” Smith said. “We should have put on a better performance for the crowd.”

Among those in attendance were Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper, Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Mario Bowling, Minister of Education Glenys Hanna-Martin and Members of Parliament Baccus Rolle and Zane Lightbourne.