By Emmanuel Espinal
March 2, 2026
In Oceanside, California, the ground shook a few nights ago — not on the Richter scale, but in the roar of an entire nation. The Dominican Republic pulled off what many thought was impossible, and what had only happened once before in history: defeating the United States, this time 87–79. The only previous instance of Dominicans beating the U.S. Americans was in 1989 in Mexico, with a 116–108 score.
How “the Little Team” Beat the U.S.
At the opening tip for the first possession, the whole world was sure that even if this was not Team USA’s “A” squad, the question was not whether the United States would win — but by how much. But “the little team,” as the Dominican players called themselves during the celebration, and coach Néstor “Che” García had other plans to break that script.
In the first quarter, the Dominicans jumped ahead, driven by the offensive spark of Jhery Matos and Ángel Delgado, who scored six points each, building a ten-point lead at 21–11. In the second quarter, the U.S. closed the gap by four points by winning the quarter 22–18, and both teams headed to the locker room with the Dominican Republic up 39–33.
The Dominican team came out inspired after halftime and made sure to stretch the lead to seventeen by winning the third quarter 31–20. The players who set the rim on fire were Jassel Pérez with 10 points and Jhery Matos with 7. The U.S. tightened up in the final quarter and got within four points of a tie with one minute left. But the Dominicans sealed the win at the free-throw line, where they hit six straight — four of them by Gelvis Solano. That is how they secured the 87–79 triumph, giving the country a major reason to celebrate its independence in grand fashion.
The standout players were Jassel Pérez (20 pts, 10 rebs, 4 ast), Andersson Mejía (14 pts, 7 rebs, 2 blks), Gelvis Solano (13 pts, 9 asts, 3 stls, 2 blks), and Jhery Matos (13 pts, 4 asts). With the win, the Dominican Republic sits atop Group A in a three-way tie at 2–1 along with the United States and Mexico. Their next game will be against Nicaragua on March 1 in Managua at 9:30 p.m.
