Are you looking for a rising international basketball powerhouse?
Meet the Bahamas national basketball team: Deandre Ayton (Suns), Buddy Hield (Pacers) and Eric Gordon (Suns) sparked the island nation to an 82-75 win over Argentina on Sunday, advancing the Bahamas to the Paris Olympic Qualifying Tournament next July — the farthest the Bahamas have ever gotten in Olympic qualifying.
🇧🇸 HISTORY MAKERS 🇧🇸
— FIBA (@FIBA) August 21, 2023
The Bahamas qualify to the #FIBAOQT for a chance to play their first ever Olympics and celebrate a well-deserved win over Argentina! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/SmpIvbhs2a
Gordon was the dominant force in this game, where the Bahamas came from behind against the hosts and traditional South American powerhouse. Gordon — who recently switched his international allegiance from the USA to the Bahamas — finished with 27 points, including two critical step-back 3s, in the final couple of minutes, to secure the win.
ERIC “CLUTCHTIME” GORDON 🗡️
— FIBA (@FIBA) August 21, 2023
Eric Gordon goes 𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐤 against Argentina at #FIBAOQT final to steal the game in Argentina 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/tnc3bAmXVx
Hield added 17 points and Ayton scored 10 and had 21 rebounds in the victory.
The Bahamas, coached by Golden State Warriors assistant Chris DeMarco, now head to the Paris Olympic Qualifying Tournaments next July. They will be joined by other qualifiers out of other tournaments this last weekend: Cameroon, Bahrain, Croatia and Poland.
Only 12 men’s teams compete in the Olympics (and 12 women’s teams), with eight qualifying out of the FIBA World Cup that starts this week in Japan, the Philippines, and Indonesia. Of the teams that play in the World Cup but do not qualify for the Paris Games, 19 will join the five teams out of this summer’s qualifying tournaments — including the Bahamas — in next summer’s qualifying tournaments. Those 24 teams will be divided into four tournaments of six teams each, and the winners of those four tournaments will punch their tickets to Paris.
With this roster, the Bahamas have a real chance to be one of them.
