On the afternoon of Thursday, November 21, the Panama Senior National Basketball Team achieved its first visiting victory by a score of 116 to 79 against Paraguay, in its first game of the Second Window of the FIBA AmeriCup 2025 Qualifiers; at the Roberto Cabañas Municipal Sports Center, in the city of Pilar, capital of the department of Ñeembecú.
The partials were: Panama 116 – 79 Paraguay (30/23, 35/17; 25/25 and 26/14). The national quintet secured the first two quarters from the start of the match, to go comfortably into the halftime break up by 25 points (65/40).
Both quintets tied in the third period (25/25) and Panama won by twelve in the last section (26/14); finally took a lead of 37 points, to achieve their first victory by a score of 116 to 79 over Paraguay.
The best offensive players for Panama were Iverson Molinar with 27 points, three rebounds, all defensive; He had five assists, three fouls, four turnovers and two steals.
Trevor Gaskins contributed 23 points, one rebound, three assists, two fouls, two turnovers and two steals; center Eric Romero with 13 points, captured eight rebounds, five were defensive; a foul, a steal and a block.
Justin Quintero added 12 points to the board, four rebounds, two defensive ones, two assists, a personal foul, a block and point guard Guillermo Navarro finished with 11, two rebounds, two assists and three fouls.
Vincenzo Ochipinti was the most outstanding for Paraguay with 17 points, one rebound, four fouls and one turnover; accompanied by Fernando Dose with 15 points, he had four rebounds, three were defensive, three assists, two fouls, three turnovers and Gabriel Peralta finished with 11 points, one rebound, two assists, three personal fouls and three turnovers.
It should be noted that the twelve players of the Panama Senior National Team saw action in this match; in which Coclesano Joshua Lemon and Colonenses Ezequiel Bell and Hamurabis de Léon debuted.
After playing two games against each rival, the three best quintets in each group (12 in total) will qualify for the FIBA AmeriCup 2025, which will take place from August 23 to 31 at the Alexis Argüello Sports Center in Managua, Nicaragua.
The national quintet will travel tomorrow, Friday, November 22, in the early hours of the morning on flights with a stopover to the city of Belén, to face Brazil next Sunday at 6:00 p.m. (Panama time), at the Guilherme Paraense Arena.
FUENTE: FEPABA
