USA Men’s U18 National Team Blows Out Bahamas 115-51
7/15/2008 8:56:23 PM | Men's Basketball
The USA had six players score in double digits and two others, including David Wear contributed nine points apiece.
FORMOSA, Argentina (July 15, 2008) -- The 2008 USA Basketball Men's U18 National Team (2-0) took control early and ran away with a 115-51 victory over the Bahamas (0-2) on Tuesday afternoon at the 2008 FIBA Americas U18 Championship in Formosa, Argentina. For the second game in a row, Travis Wear (Mater Dei H.S. / Santa Ana, Calif.) scored 15 points, while adding four rebounds and two blocked shots, to lead the well-balanced USA scoring attack.
The U.S., which took the lead 1:30 into the contest and never looked back, saw all 12 players score and rebound in the lopsided contest. In addition to Travis Wear, Mason Plumlee (Christ H.S. / Arden, N.C.) notched 14 points and grabbed 14 boards for the game's only double-double, University of Alabama freshman-to-be JaMychal Green (St. Jude H.S. / Montgomery, Ala.) tossed in 13 points, University of Kansas freshman-to-be Travis Releford (Bishop Miege H.S. / Shawnee Mission, Kan.) had 11 and UCLA freshman-to-be Malcom Lee (John W. North H.S. / Riverside, Calif.) and Maalik Wayns (Roman Catholic H.S. / Philadelphia, Pa.) chipped in 10 points apiece.
In the day's other games, Canada (2-0) took Uruguay (0-2) 76-56, while Venezuela (0-1) faces Puerto Rico (1-0) at 6:00 p.m. (all times listed are EDT) and host Argentina (1-0) takes on Mexico (0-1) at 8:00 p.m.
The USA closes out preliminary round play against Puerto Rico at 6:00 p.m. on July 16. The semifinals will be played July 17 and the gold medal game will be contested July 18.
“Our teamwork and our toughness was there from start to finish,” said USA and Davidson College head coach Bob McKillop. “We distributed the ball very well, we defended very well and the guys have really accepted the concept that defense wins championships.”
The Bahamas struck first, but it didn't take long for the USA to establish its dominance on the court. Following the initial bucket by the islanders, Green scored four of the USA's points in a 6-0 opening run. Donathan Moss of Bahamas hit his team's second and final field goal of the first quarter at 7:21, making it 6-4. The U.S. took off from there, scoring 11 straight points. Ryan Kelly (Ravenscroft H.S. / Raleigh, N.C.) stepped back and swished a long two just inside the 3-point line; Releford sank the red, white and blue's next three buckets, including a steal on an inbounds pass; while Lee finished off the run with a pair of free throws and the USA was well in command, 17-4, with 4:36 to play in the opening period. Each squad made and missed one from the line and with two minutes to go in the first quarter the score stood at 18-5.
At the 1:54 mark University of Oregon freshman-to-be Matt Humphrey (Hales Franciscian H.S / Chicago, Ill.) found Wayns open outside the 3-point line in what was to become the beginning of a game-sealing 21-0 run.
Including three 3-pointers at the start of the run, two from Wayns, the USA made four in all, and the streak ended with a University of Connecticut freshman-to-be Kemba Walker (Rice H.S. / New York, N.Y.) steal and layup that gave the USA a dominating 39-5 advantage with 7:18 remaining before halftime.
“It's kind of hard (to stay focused) because you lose focus as you see the points get higher, you want to relax and chill,” said Leslie McDonald (Briarcrest H.S./ Memphis, Tenn.), who scored nine points against the Bahamas. “But coach did great with getting on us and pushing us to stay focused.”
At halftime the USA's lead was 59-11, by the end of the third quarter it was 87-31 and the USA closed the game with a 28-20 edge in the fourth quarter.
Nine of the USA's players had a hand in setting a new single-game blocked shot record for the U.S. at the FIBA Americas U18 Championship. With a total of 14 swats against the Bahamas, the North Americans eclipsed the previous USA record of 12 blocks, set by the 1990 USA U18 National Team against Uruguay.
Humphrey passed out a team-best four assists as the U.S. was credited with 21 overall.
Moss was the Bahamas top scorer with 10 points and rebounder with five.
The United States forced 29 turnovers, 19 of which came off of steals, and converted for 17 points from turnovers. Scoring 70 points in the paint, the U.S. got 68 points from its reserves, earned 24 second-chance points and 22 from the fast break. In contrast, the Bahamas only managed two points from the USA's 22 turnovers, scored 14 in the paint, four came from fast breaks and its bench notched 20 points.
With the win, the USA upped its all-time record at this event to 31-1.
Virginia Commonwealth University head coach Anthony Grant and Georgetown University head coach John Thompson III are serving as assistant coaches
Featuring eight U18 national teams from North, South and Central America and the Caribbean, the 2008 FIBA Americas U18 Championship will qualify the top four finishing teams for the 2009 FIBA U19 World Championship, slated to be held July 2-12 in New Zealand.
Following preliminary round play the top two teams in each group advance to the July 17 medal round semifinals and the gold medal game will be contested at 8:00 p.m. on July 18.
The U.S., which took the lead 1:30 into the contest and never looked back, saw all 12 players score and rebound in the lopsided contest. In addition to Travis Wear, Mason Plumlee (Christ H.S. / Arden, N.C.) notched 14 points and grabbed 14 boards for the game's only double-double, University of Alabama freshman-to-be JaMychal Green (St. Jude H.S. / Montgomery, Ala.) tossed in 13 points, University of Kansas freshman-to-be Travis Releford (Bishop Miege H.S. / Shawnee Mission, Kan.) had 11 and UCLA freshman-to-be Malcom Lee (John W. North H.S. / Riverside, Calif.) and Maalik Wayns (Roman Catholic H.S. / Philadelphia, Pa.) chipped in 10 points apiece.
In the day's other games, Canada (2-0) took Uruguay (0-2) 76-56, while Venezuela (0-1) faces Puerto Rico (1-0) at 6:00 p.m. (all times listed are EDT) and host Argentina (1-0) takes on Mexico (0-1) at 8:00 p.m.
The USA closes out preliminary round play against Puerto Rico at 6:00 p.m. on July 16. The semifinals will be played July 17 and the gold medal game will be contested July 18.
“Our teamwork and our toughness was there from start to finish,” said USA and Davidson College head coach Bob McKillop. “We distributed the ball very well, we defended very well and the guys have really accepted the concept that defense wins championships.”
The Bahamas struck first, but it didn't take long for the USA to establish its dominance on the court. Following the initial bucket by the islanders, Green scored four of the USA's points in a 6-0 opening run. Donathan Moss of Bahamas hit his team's second and final field goal of the first quarter at 7:21, making it 6-4. The U.S. took off from there, scoring 11 straight points. Ryan Kelly (Ravenscroft H.S. / Raleigh, N.C.) stepped back and swished a long two just inside the 3-point line; Releford sank the red, white and blue's next three buckets, including a steal on an inbounds pass; while Lee finished off the run with a pair of free throws and the USA was well in command, 17-4, with 4:36 to play in the opening period. Each squad made and missed one from the line and with two minutes to go in the first quarter the score stood at 18-5.
At the 1:54 mark University of Oregon freshman-to-be Matt Humphrey (Hales Franciscian H.S / Chicago, Ill.) found Wayns open outside the 3-point line in what was to become the beginning of a game-sealing 21-0 run.
Including three 3-pointers at the start of the run, two from Wayns, the USA made four in all, and the streak ended with a University of Connecticut freshman-to-be Kemba Walker (Rice H.S. / New York, N.Y.) steal and layup that gave the USA a dominating 39-5 advantage with 7:18 remaining before halftime.
“It's kind of hard (to stay focused) because you lose focus as you see the points get higher, you want to relax and chill,” said Leslie McDonald (Briarcrest H.S./ Memphis, Tenn.), who scored nine points against the Bahamas. “But coach did great with getting on us and pushing us to stay focused.”
At halftime the USA's lead was 59-11, by the end of the third quarter it was 87-31 and the USA closed the game with a 28-20 edge in the fourth quarter.
Nine of the USA's players had a hand in setting a new single-game blocked shot record for the U.S. at the FIBA Americas U18 Championship. With a total of 14 swats against the Bahamas, the North Americans eclipsed the previous USA record of 12 blocks, set by the 1990 USA U18 National Team against Uruguay.
Humphrey passed out a team-best four assists as the U.S. was credited with 21 overall.
Moss was the Bahamas top scorer with 10 points and rebounder with five.
The United States forced 29 turnovers, 19 of which came off of steals, and converted for 17 points from turnovers. Scoring 70 points in the paint, the U.S. got 68 points from its reserves, earned 24 second-chance points and 22 from the fast break. In contrast, the Bahamas only managed two points from the USA's 22 turnovers, scored 14 in the paint, four came from fast breaks and its bench notched 20 points.
With the win, the USA upped its all-time record at this event to 31-1.
Virginia Commonwealth University head coach Anthony Grant and Georgetown University head coach John Thompson III are serving as assistant coaches
Featuring eight U18 national teams from North, South and Central America and the Caribbean, the 2008 FIBA Americas U18 Championship will qualify the top four finishing teams for the 2009 FIBA U19 World Championship, slated to be held July 2-12 in New Zealand.
Following preliminary round play the top two teams in each group advance to the July 17 medal round semifinals and the gold medal game will be contested at 8:00 p.m. on July 18.
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