With Jamaica’s basketball team looking to create further history this evening, Jamaica Basketball Association (JABA) President Paulton Gordon believes the spirit within the team is critical in their push to qualify for the 2027 FIBA World Cup.

The Jamrockers face hosts Puerto Rico in their second game of the first round of the FIBA Americas World Cup Qualifiers at the Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San Juan. Tip off is slated for 7:10 pm.

The national team, without Miami Heat star Norman Powell, will be eyeing consecutive wins against the Puerto Ricans after a stunning 92-90 triumph on Friday. Kofi Cockburn’s buzzer beater ensured Jamaica registered a victory in their debut appearance at the tournament.

The win was also vital as the team were forced to give up home advantage with the National Indoor Sports Centre in Kingston and the Montego Bay Convention Centre in St James not deemed fit by world governing body FIBA to host matches.

Gordon told the Jamaica Observer that the team’s shock away win is a testament of their mentality.

“Although we had no home-game advantage, we wanted to ensure that at least one of these games, we had in the locker heading back out of this window,” he said.

“It’s a very hostile environment that we are operating in because the crowd was on their case but they had a mission in mind. They had a vision and everybody’s wrapped their minds around what we need to do to get to the next level and I’m very happy that everybody seems to be on the same page — coaches, players, support staff.”

Seen as the underdogs in Group B which also features Canada and Bahamas, Jamaica has a chance to move to four points and remain as one of the top two teams heading into 2026 with three advancing to the second round.

Head Coach Rick Turner is urging his team to remained focus as they continue to move towards their goal.

“We’ve talked about always keeping our composure. It was great to accomplish this in our first game after everything the country has just gone through, but as I said, this is the toughest group, and we haven’t achieved anything yet. This is a big win, but there’s a long way to go — we’re fighting to advance to the next round,” Turner said.

Gordon echoed similar sentiments, adding the focus extends beyond the players on the court.

“The coaches have been saying keep grounded, keep the goal in mind, continue playing with passion and the results will follow,” he said. “So again, everybody seems to be on the very same page. They understand where we’re headed, it’s going to be a collective effort from the administrators, the coaches and the players. They see it as an opportunity to elevate basketball in Jamaica to another level and they’re shooting for that.”

Gordon added: “The intention is to continue that momentum we have from the summer. We have kind of put basketball on the front page and on the minds of a lot of the basketball fans in Jamaica and we want to continue that journey.”

Regardless of the result, Jamaica are guaranteed a point from the match as FIBA awards one point to the losing team.