By ADRIAN STEWART CO

The Dominican Republic gutted out a tough 75-67 win over Angola to complete a sweep of Group A in the 2023 FIBA World Cup at the Araneta Coliseum yesterday.

Despite missing Karl-Anthony Towns due to foul trouble for the most part of the game, the Dominicans refused to cave in against the Angolans’ defensive pressure.

Lester Quinones and Victor Liz did the heavy lifting for the Dominicans in the first quarter, outscoring the Angolans, 20-11.

Angel Delgado’s three-point play made it 26-13 for the Dominican Republic, but Angola stepped up on defense to cut the lead to 37-32 going to the second half.

Towns was forced to sit early in the third after picking up his fourth personal foul.

He returned to the floor in the payoff period and helped instigate a 10-3 run to give the Dominicans a 58-53 advantage. Angola lost its main man Bruno Fernando midway in the period but managed to tie the count 65-all after Silvio de Souza’s slam.

But a jumper by Liz and a layup by Andres Feliz pushed the Dominicans ahead. Towns then drained two free throws to secure their third win in as many games.

Meanwhile, the United States men’s basketball team overcame a slow first quarter to dominate Greece, 109-81, on Monday night at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.

Austin Reaves caught fire in the fourth quarter as he led the Americans with 15 points, Jalen Brunson and Anthony Edwards supplied 13 points each, while Bobby Portis Jr. ended with 10 as they improved to 2-0 mark.

Holding to a slim 23-19 advantage after the first 10 minutes, Team USA created separation in the second period with Brunson, Reaves and Paolo Banchero anchoring the offense as they padded the advantage to 50-37 at the half.

The Americans maintained the aggression in the third quarter with Edwards uncorking consecutive baskets, while Reaves got his shots to fall in the final period as the lead went up to its biggest of 107-76.

Georgios Papagiannis finished with 17 points, with 11 coming in the first quarter, while Nikos Rogkavopoulos added 14 markers as Greece dropped to 1-1 win-loss record in Group C.

Luka Dončić, on the other hand, fell short of a triple-double as Slovenia notched its second straight victory with an 88-67 domination of Georgia at the Okinawa Arena in Okinawa, Japan.

The Dallas Mavericks star tallied 34 points, 10 rebounds and six assists to go with three steals in 31 minutes of action, while Klemen Prepelic and Zoran Dragic added 15 and 12 markers, respectively. (With a report from ABS-CBN News)/ASC, WDJ