Edwin Suarez, Dominican Republic, remain winless at Americas Championship

Edwin Suarez and his Dominican Republic team were eliminated from medal contention Friday in a 66-52 loss to Brazil in the FIBA U18 Americas Championship in Tijuana, Mexico.

Suarez, a recent Muhlenberg graduate, had 10 points and a team-high nine rebounds in the quarterfinals of the eight-team tournament.

Suarez will get a rematch against Reading High’s Ruben Rodriguez when the Dominican Republic plays Puerto Rico in a consolation game Saturday at 12:30.

Brazil advances to play the winner of Friday’s game between Ruben Rodriguez’s Puerto Rico team and Canada. They’ll meet Saturday at 5:30.

Suarez, a two-time All-Berks pick at Muhlenberg, played 33 minutes, second-most on his team. He struggled from the field, making just 4-of-16 shots.

Suarez, who grew up in Puerto Rico and moved to Reading in 2018, is eligible to play for the Dominican Republic because his mother, Damaris, was born there.

Edwin Daniel scored a team-high 11 points and had seven blocked shots for the Dominican; Nasir Muhammad scored 10. The Dominicans combined for 14 blocked shots.

Guilherme Tesch scored a game-high 23 points and had a game-high 12 rebounds for Brazil.

The Dominican Republic led by as many as five points in the first quarter. Brazil, the top seed out of Group A, used a 9-0 run to pull away in the second quarter and was ahead by double digits the rest of the way.

The Dominican Republic finished fourth in Group B behind the United States, Puerto Rico and Ecuador. It has lost each of its four games.