Gilas still alive as Dominican Republic holds off Angola to sweep Group A

Dominican Republic’s Karl-Anthony Towns. -MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines—Dominican Republic overcame Karl-Anthony Towns’ foul trouble and held off Angola, 75-67, to sweep Group A of the 2023 Fiba World Cup at Araneta Coliseum on Tuesday.

The Dominicans’ win also means that Gilas Pilipinas still has a chance to advance to the second round if it ends up beating Italy by at least 13 points later at 8 p.m.

Towns, who already had three fouls in the first quarter, said the win showed what the Dominican Republic is capable of.

“[We’re] just super excited to get the dub. Super excited to make the country proud. I know a lot of people didn’t expect us to do this but we expected ourselves to do it so I’m very happy that we get to shock the world and show the world what we’ve been working on,” he said after finishing with eight points and two rebounds.

Dominican Republic celebrates after beating Angola and sweeping Group A in the Fiba World Cup. -MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

“[It’s] a good win. Good win for the country. The Dominican Republic got to be really happy about the plays we did out there. We’re making them proud, I feel it.”

It seemed like the game was pretty much in the bag for the Dominicans at the 5:13 mark of the fourth when Angola star Bruno Fernand fouled out of the game and Andres Feliz put Dominican Republic ahead 65-59 with three free throws.

The Angolans, however, responded and knotted the count at 65 with still 2:52 left.

But Victor Liz and Feliz came through down the stretch for the Dominicans with back-to-back baskets to put away the Angolans.

Silvio De Sousa led Angola, which beat Gilas, 80-70, on Sunday, with 19 points and nine rebounds.