Dominican Republic Will Advance to FIBA Americas Semifinals

The Dominican Republic has secured a spot in the 2011 FIBA Americas Championship semifinals.

The final seeding is still in question as all teams still have two games remaining on Wednesday and Thursday.

The Dominicans will face Puerto Rico tomorrow and Argentina on Thursday. The goal at this point would seemingly be to avoid Argentina in the semifinal round as the host nation is undefeated and playing at an extremely high level in the tournament.

Regardless of the outcomes of the final two games:

- The Dominicans will finish no worse than fourth place, which is the highest the team has ever finished

- Even with a loss in the semifinals, the team has already qualified for a last-chance Olympic qualifier in the summer of 2012.

The bottom line, if the Dominican Republic wins Saturday's semifinal game, they earn a spot in the 2012 Olympics.

Current Standings:

Group X

1. Argentina 5/0 10
2. Brazil 4/1 9
3. Puerto Rico 4/1 9
4. Dominican Republic 4/1 9
5. Venezuela 1/4 6
6. Canada 1/4 6
7. Uruguay 1/4 6
8. Panama 0/5 5

Here is the remaining second round schedule:

9/7/2011

11:30 Canada vs. Uruguay
14:00 Venezuela vs. Panama
18:00 Brazil vs. Argentina
20:30 Dominican Republic vs. Puerto Rico

9/8/2011

11:30 Panama vs. Canada
14:00 Uruguay vs. Venezuela
18:00 Argentina vs. Dominican Republic
20:30 Puerto Rico vs. Brazil