By BRENT STUBBS

Chief Sports Editor

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas gave it a gallant effort, but fell short 100-91 to Uruguay in their final game yesterday at the FIBA AmeriCup 2025 at the Poldeportive Alexis Arguello Arena in Managua, Nicaragua.

Team Bahamas opened play in Group A on Saturday, losing 105-93 in overtime to the United States of America. They suffered their second loss to Brazil in a 84-66 defeat on Sunday.

The two losses forced The Bahamas to have to rely on a victory against Uruguay in order to try and secure one of the three remaining spots behind the top two finishers in each of the three groups to advance to the playoffs.

However, Uruguay was able to hold off The Bahamas down the stretch  to fold the country’s bid to stay alive in the tournament, falling 0-3 in the round-robin.

Despite the losses, first year coach Lourawls “Tum Tum” Nairn said he’s very proud of the way the team competed in all three games in the tournament.

“All of our games were tough. We had a chance to win all of them, but we came up short,” Nairn said. “Our programme continues to grow and head in the right direction.”

With head coach Chris DeMarco, an assistant coach for the Golden State Warriors in the NBA, not available, Nairn - a former player on the men’s team - was given the nod to coach the team, a feat he said he will cherish.

“It was an honour to coach these guys and work with the coaching staff,” said Nairn, now the associate head coach at Bowling Green State University.

“This was one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done in my life. There is no need for us to hang our heads, the world is on notice about Bahamian basketball!.”

Uruguay 100, Bahamas 91

The backcourt duo of point guard Domnick Bridgewater and guard Franco Miller Jr put together another impressive 1-2 punch, but it wasn’t enough to prevail against Uruguay. Bridgewater, who didn’t play in game two, returned to the starting line-up and finished with 29 points on 11-of-19 from the field, 4-of-10 from the three-point line and 3-for-5 from the free throw line. 

He also had five assists and two steals.

Miller Jr, one of the leading scorers in all three games, shot 8-for-15 from the field, 2-for-9 from behind the three-point line and 2-for-3 from the charity stripe for 20 points with four assists and three rebounds. 

Small forward Kentwan Smith was the only other player in double figures for Team Bahamas with 16 points. center Jaraun ‘Kino’ Burrows scored nine points with seven rebounds and a pair of assists and steals; center Isiash Mobley had seven points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals and guard Garvin Clarke added five points.

Point guard Bruno Fitipldo pced Uruguay with a game high 33 points, 13 assists, eight rebounds and two assists and shooting guard Joaquin Rodriguez added 21 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals.

The Bahamas fell behind 22-16 at the end of the first quarter with Bridgewater leading the way with six points, including a pair of three-pointers. Burrows added four.

But in a 30-24 spurt in the second half,including an 11-0 run,  the Bahamas surged back to level the score at 46-46 at the half as Miller had 12 and both Burrows and Bridgewater added nine up to the half-time break.

Rodriguez was the only player in double figures for Uruguay with 13 points at the half.

In the third quarter, the game remained close until Bridgeater hit a jumper to break a 66-66 tie for a 68-66 lead for the Bahamas with about ten seconds left. 

After hitting another free throw, with just three seconds to go, Smith was awarded three shots and he converted them all to push the Bahamas up 72-66 at the final break.

In the first two minutes of the fourth quarter, Uruguay stormed back to out-score the Bahamas 10-4 to pull even at 76-76. With about three minutes left, the Bahamas bounced back to even the score at 84.

But Uruguay used a 6-0 run to extend their lead to 90-84 over the next minute. And they finished the game with a 10-6 spurt to complete the game.