MANILA (UPDATED) -- The Dominican Republic gutted out a tough 75-67 win over Angola to complete a sweep of Group A in the 2023 FIBA World Cup at the Araneta Coliseum on Tuesday.

Despite missing Karl-Anthony Towns due to foul trouble for the most part of the game, the Dominicans refused to cave in against the Angolans' defensive pressure.

Lester Quinones and Victor Liz did the heavy lifting for the Dominicans in the first quarter, outscoring the Angolans, 20-11.

Angel Delgado's three-point play made it 26-13 for the Dominican Republic, but Angola stepped up on defense to cut the lead to 37-32 going to the second half.

Towns was forced to sit early in the third after picking up his fourth personal foul. This made it increasingly difficult for the Dominicans to stay ahead of the Angolans. Childe Dundao's trey 2:46 remaining in the period pushed Angola ahead, 46-45.

Towns returned to the floor in the payoff period and helped instigate a 10-3 run to give the Dominicans a 58-53 advantage. Angola lost its main man Bruno Fernando midway in the period but managed to tie the count 65-all after Silvio de Souza's slam.

But a jumper by Victor Liz and a layup by Andres Feliz pushed the Dominicans ahead. Towns then drained two free throws to secure their third win in as many games.

Feliz led the Dominicans in scoring with 17 points, while Liz added 13.
Towns had eight points, seven of their coming in the fourth quarter.

The victory favored the Philippine national team's chances of making it to the second round of the competition. But Gilas Pilipinas will also need to upset word's No. 10 Italy by at least 13 points to overcome the Italians' +14 point differential.

For more stories on the FIBA World Cup, click here.

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