US beats Panama in second round of 2019 World Cup qualifiers

Panama City, Sep 18 (IANS) The United States defeated Panama 78-48 at the close of the second round of qualifying for the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup at the Roberto Duran Arena here.

The Panamanian team started well against the American team that displayed better physical strength, which ultimately proved to be decisive on Monday.

After Ernesto Ogilvie opened the scoring for Panama, things started swinging in the US' favour, reports Efe news.

The US ended the first quarter ahead at 18-7, showing their intention to continue their winning streak.

At the start of the second quarter, the Panamanians upped their game and managed to narrow the gap with their rivals with 3-points by Javier Rodriguez and Trevor Gaskins.

At half-time, the score was 36-23.

The third quarter proved to be same, with the Americans dominating and the Panamanians trying to catch up.

In the 4th quarter, Jeff Van Gundy maintained the advantage for the US to seal the triumph 78-48.

Reggie Hearn and Dwayne Bacon were the top scorers for the US with 12 and 10 points respectively while Javier Carter and Javier Rodriguez shone for Panama with 16 and 13 points respectively.

(This story has not been edited by Social News XYZ staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)