Guyana finished their FIBA 2023 Former Qualifiers Basketball World Cup undefeated, going down to Costa Rica by a score line of 78-75 last night at the José Adolfo Pineda National Gym in El Salvador.
It was the fourth consecutive loss to the Guyanese following losses to Nicaragua (84-73), Jamaica (107-87) and Salvador (92-90) on Thursday, Friday and Saturday in much the same way location.
Locked 20-20 at the end of the first period, the Guyanese took the marginal edge heading into the halftime break, as they defeated the Costa Ricans 21-19 to lead 41-39.
However, the crucial 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 outscored 27-15 to trail 66-56 heading into the final verse.
Guyana was unable to reverse the double digit deficit noted above as they could only overcome Costa Rica by a score of 19-12.
Delroy James led all scorers for the Guyanese with double-double figures of 29 points, 12 rebounds and five assists. He was backed by captain Stanton Rose who recorded 16 points, nine rebounds.
Entering 10 points, Deylon Bovell had five assists while Israel Yaw added eight points. For the winners, Daniel Shedden scored best with 19 points, and Kay Martinez was the next best scorer with 14 points.
Assisting with 10 points each were duo Manrique Alvarado and George Lerford. Adding seven points was Isaac Conejo.
The top three finishers will advance to the second round of qualifying matches for July 2021.