Guyana ended their FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Pre-Qualifiers winless, going down to Costa Rica by a 78-75 score line last evening at the José Adolfo Pineda National Gymnasium in El Salvador.
It was the fourth consecutive defeat for the Guyanese following losses to Nicaragua (84-73), Jamaica (107-87) and Salvador (92-90) on Thursday, Friday and Saturday respectively at the same location.
Locked 20-20 at the end of the first period, the Guyanese took the marginal lead heading into the halftime interval, as they outscored the Costa Ricans 21-19 to lead 41-39.
However, the pivotal third period proved to be the turning point of the contest as Costa Rica seized control of the contest. It was the lowest scoring period for the Guyanese as they were out-hustled 27-15 to trail 66-56 heading into the final stanza.
Guyana was unable to overturn the aforesaid double digit deficit as they were only able to outscore Costa Rica by a 19-12 score.
Delroy James led all scorers for the Guyanese with double-double figures of 29 points, 12 rebounds and five assists. He was supported by captain Stanton Rose who recorded 16 points, nine rebounds.
Chipping in with 10 points, five assists was Deylon Bovell while Israel Yaw added eight points. For the winners, Daniel Shedden top scored with 19 points, while Kay Martinez was the next best scorer with 14 points.
Assisting with 10 points apiece were the duo of Manrique Alvarado and George Lerford. Adding seven points was Isaac Conejo.
The top three finishers will progress to the second round of qualifiers slated for July 2021.
