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Jamaica shooting to nail double over Puerto Rico - Following buzzer-beater win in opening FIBA Americas World Cup qualifier
December 01, 2025
Jamaica's senior men's team basketball head coach Rick Turner said winning consecutive games against Puerto Rico in Puerto Rico would be an amazing feat.
The Jamaica team take on Puerto Rico for the second time in three days in the FIBA Americas World Cup qualifiers this evening at 7:10.
They lost home court advantage because their venue was not approved by the competition's organisers, and so they have been forced to play both games away to Puerto Rico.
After their 92-90 buzzer-beater win on Friday, Turner said the opponents will be a lot more aware of the strengths they possess, and that it will require an even greater effort to secure the double.
GREAT START
"That (to win again) would be amazing. It would really be a great start to our qualifying tournament. But we know what the Puerto Rico team is and they are a prideful team, and we won't be sneaking up on them in this game," said Turner.
"They are going to be ready to go and we have got to turn it up another notch," he said.
,In that game, the first quarter was tied 26-26 and Jamaica trailed 52-57 at halftime, before putting in a big third quarter to lead 76-68 at the end, before closing out a thrilling victory.
Kofi Cockburn led Jamaica with 26 points and 15 rebounds, while there were other good contributions from Tyran De Lattibeaudiere, 15 points, Andrew Thelwell, 12 points and seven rebounds, Chase Audige, 11 points, six assists, four steals and four rebounds, Romaine Thomas, 11 points, and Kenton Facey, 11 points and six rebounds.
MAJOR THREATS
Christopher Orti, (17 points, 7 rebounds) and Gian Clavell (14 points) were a major threat from behind the three-point line for Puerto Rico and Turner expects the pair to remain a threat from outside.
"Our plans were to restrict them. But it was tough to do. They are really, really good. They run their sets in a way that allows them to get open looks," the Jamaica coach assessed.
"I was disappointed in how we started the game defending the three. The first nine three-point attempts were uncontested and we were talking about it all week. So it is not like we were not aware of it," Turner bemoaned.
"But we recommended at halftime to stick to that game plan and in the second half they only had two threes. But they are really tough to defend," he conceded.
PHYSICAL ADVANTAGE
Still, Turner believes Jamaica have an advantage in their physicality and said players like Kofi Cockburn and Romario Gil can be the trump card on the night.
"I think it (physicality) is something that we need to take advantage of. But I didn't think we had the tools in place to do that (Friday). But we will try to do some different things to get the ball inside and take advantage of our big man.
"We do not have a lot of advantages when you play a team that is one of the best in the world. But one of them is having guys like Kofi Cockburn and Romario Gil, who can operate inside and dominate, given the opportunity," he said.
Jamaica are in Group B with Canada, Bahamas and Puerto Rico. Jamaica and Canada share the lead after one win each, with two points. Puerto Rico and Bahamas have one point each.
