USA Wins Opener At FIBA World Championship
LIEPAJA, LATVIA -- Seven players scored in double-figures and
the USA U19 team rolled to a 115-60 victory over Egypt to begin
play in the FIBA U19 World Championship in Latvia on Thursday (June
30). The USA will continue preliminary round play in the
16-team tournament against Serbia on Friday (July 1).
The USA scored the first 22 points of the game and then cruised to
the 55-point victory. Doug McDermott (Creighton) led the
scoring parade with 19 points, while Joe Jackson (Memphis) and
Jeremy Lamb (Connecticut) each added 15.
“The young men focused on the things we wanted to focus
on, defensively especially. I like the fact that we shared the
basketball and we had a lot of guys get some good looks at the
basket and make some shots,” said USA U19 coach Paul Hewitt
(George Mason) in a USA Basketball release.
“I was happy with our ball movement and I thought we defended
well, but in particular ball movement and we made some threes. I
think any team that wins this world championship is going to have
shoot the ball well from the outside and that’s usually keyed
by good passing.”
Butler’s Khyle Marshall was one of the seven players who
finished with a double-figures scoring total. He played 14
minutes in the victory in contributed 10 points, two rebounds and
two assists. The 6-7 forward hit four of nine shots from the
field and two of three from the charity stripe.
The USA squad will return to the court at 9 a.m. (ET) on Friday to
face Serbia, a 78-73 winner over China in the first round.
U.S. Preliminary Round Schedule at the FIBA U19 World
Championship for Men
Thursday, June 30 - USA 115, Egypt, 60
Friday, July 1 - vs. Serbia, 9 a.m. (ET)
Saturday, July 2 - vs. China, 11:15 a.m. (ET)
