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SAN JUAN (Puerto Rico) – In a game that was much closer than its final score, the United States defeated Puerto Rico, 83-75, Friday night at Coliseo Roberto Clemente in San Juan.
Jim Boylen’s squad was ahead during 36 of the 40 minutes of the contest, but the home team refused to throw the towel – setting the table for an exciting, hard-fought affair.
Up by five points at the half, the Americans found their offense after the intermission.
A flurry of three-pointers and some stout defense allowed them to open a game-high 17-point lead midway through the third quarter. That would’ve been enough on most nights and in most arenas, but the Puerto Rican crowd willed their guys back into contention.
Justin Jackson led the way for the U.S. with 26 points on 9/16 from the field. The Texas Legends wing shot 5/10 from beyond the arc and added six rebounds in three assists in the winning effort.
The 27-year-old former King connected on a pair of three-pointers in the key stretch in the third that pushed the visitors’ lead to double digits.
But Puerto Rico always roars back and not even a nasty ankle sprain would stop José Alvarado from giving the U.S. a healthy scare.
The New Orleans Pelicans guard paced Puerto Rico with 20 points off the bench, shooting 7/17 from long range and dishing four assists.
His late-game heroics built upon another rock-solid performance from big man Ismael Romero, who added 15 points (6/9 from the field) and seven rebounds.
Them, along with former Dallas Mavericks guard Gian Clavell (17 points, four rebounds), managed to get the boricuas to within six points in the final minute of action before they ran out of time.
Sharpshooting guard John Jenkins hit a pair of free throws in the waning seconds to seal the deal. The Vanderbilt grad, currently playing in France, shot 2/6 from downtown and finished with 13 points.
Veteran wing Langston Galloway added a pair of three-pointers to reach 18 points as the Americans outshot Puerto Rico 47.7 percent to 41.5.
And in a game where Puerto Rico led on points off turnovers (17-14), points in the paint (40-30) and points off the bench (42-16), it was the U.S. outside shooting that made the biggest difference.
The away team had six different players connecting on at least one three-pointer and made 13 to Puerto Rico’s four.
With the win, Team USA (4-1) remains atop Group D while Puerto Rico (2-3) stays in third place.
Having already clinched their spot in the next phase of 2023 FIBA World Cup Americas Qualifiers, both countries will conclude the current window on Monday, with the U.S. heading to Havana to face Cuba and Puerto Rico hosting second-place Mexico.