Jamaica secured their second win in the FIBA Basketball World Cup Americas Qualifiers, beating Puerto Rico 97-92 in San Juan on Monday Night.

It was back-to-back wins for Jamaica over the world’s 16th-ranked Puerto Rico following their nail-biting 92-90 victory in Puerto Rico on Friday, November 28, and joined Canada atop Group B on four points.

Guard Chase Audige led all scorers with 20 points, Romaine Thomas hit 18, and the powerful centre Kofi Cockburn scored 15 points and 12 rebounds. Tyran DeLattibeaudiere completed a good all-around display by Jamaica, netting 15 points.

Stephen Thompson Jnr was Puerto Rico’s best scorer with 18 points, followed by Zakai Zeigler, who made 17, and Alexander Morales on 15 points.

Jamaica remains undefeated after winning the team’s first two games ever in World Cup Qualifiers. Jamaica also became the first country in the history of these qualifiers to score 90+ in its first two games.

Puerto Rico has now lost both games of a single window of World Cup Qualifiers for the first time in history. They had won nine out of their 10 games at home before dropping this set against Jamaica.

Jamaica started well, and once they took the lead in the first quarter, they never looked back, establishing a 20-point lead in the third quarter that was eventually eroded by Puerto Rico, which reduced the deficit to just three points in the fourth quarter.

But Jamaica held their nerves and secured a crucial victory by five points. Jamaica will face The Bahamas on February 26 before taking on Canada on March 1.