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V.I. MEN TOP THE D.R., HEAD TO FINALS

SAN GERMAN, Puerto Rico — The Virgin Islands men's team, using a strong second-half effort, survived a stiff test on Wednesday to beat the Dominican Republic 103-85 and sealed a spot in the Central America and Caribbean University Games basketball final.
Cuthbert Victor, who graduated from St. Joseph's High School only months ago, pumped in 21 points and four other V.I. players had 16 or more points as the Virgin Islands improved to 3-1 in the six-team field.
"This is the kind of game we wanted," said Steven Hodge, who scored seven of his 17 points in the final minutes to secure the victory. "We showed we can play from behind. This will give us confidence going into the championship. Once we play together, we are hard to beat."
The Virgin Islands, which lost to host Puerto Rico 83-57 on Sunday, will finish preliminary-round play Thursday against Colombia while unbeaten Puerto Rico, the other finalist, plays the Dominican Republic.
The V.I. basketball team is competing in the CAC University Games for the first time. The University Games, which uses an Olympic-style format, are the highest level of athletic competition in the region solely for college students.
Victor, a Murray State signee, scored eight straight points early in the second half to give the Virgin Islands a much-needed spark. During that stretch of the game, Victor blocked a shot, raced downed court, grabbed the offensive rebound and scored on a put back.
Ex-Central High star Tyrone Allick, a former two-time Virgin Islands' high school athlete of the year, came off the bench to score 18 points. Teammate Carlos Hawkins, a all-state player in Delaware, had 17 points and Alphonso Niles, a Sts. Peter & Paul alumnus, added 16 points.
Hodge, an Educational Complex alumnus, scored seven straight points late in the game to give his team a 97-82 lead, sealing the victory with two minutes to play.
"The whole group became one," said V.I. Coach Jose Paris. "Carlos, Cuthbert, Tyrone . . . they all played inspirational ball. Especially Tyrone because he was playing hurt. I had to bring him off the bench."
The Dominican Republic, which led 54-49 at the half, started the game with 5-0 and 9-2 leads. The Virgin Islands' first lead came five minutes into the contest when Leroy Gore's jumper gave the team a 16-14 advantage. Seconds later, Victor added a dunk. At that point, the Dominican Republic went on a 7-0 run, aided by poor V.I. free-throw shooting. The V.I. missed six straight free throws during one stretch of the first half, allowing the Dominican Republic to hold leads up to nine points in the first half.
Ramon Fartuoso paced the Dominican Republic with 23 points, while Carlos Paniagua added 20 points.
The V.I. Women's team, 1-2, had the day off on Wednesday. The team will Puerto Rico at 6 p.m. Thursday in the final game of the preliminary round.

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