digits, 24-16, and then hit back-to-back buckets to pull to within four, 24-20, 47 seconds into the second quarter. Serbia continued to chip away at the USA’s lead and knotted the contest at 28-all with 4:02 to play before halftime. Stone hit the second of two attempts
from the line to put his side back in front. Stefan Peno, who shot 4-of-7 from 3-point and scored 18 points, answered with a long 3-pointer as the 24-second clock expired, giving his team its first lead of the night, 31-29, at 3:21. Trailing 31-30, Ramsey drove inside
to put the USA back on top, 32-31, and the Americans never trailed again. After a strong defensive effort by Swanigan on the other end, Tatum hit the USA’s first 3-pointer of the game to extend the lead to 35-31. Serbia closed to within a point,
37-36, but Battle responded with a jumper off a Ramsey pass to up the USA’s halftime lead to 39-36. While the USA kept Serbia from
scoring on seven of its first eight posses- sions of the second half, Serbia’s defense
USA 89, Serbia 68 August 15, 2014
SRB Peno
Marinkovic 27 1- 9 1-2
MIN FG FT R A PF PTS 37 6-11 2- 2 3 42 18 4 23 3
Stojanovic 34 6-19 3- 4 3 25 18 Kenic
Miladinovic 25 0- 9 1- 2 8 04 1 Cirkovic Armus
12 0- 2 0- 0 4 02 0 3 0- 0 0- 0 0 00 0
1 0- 0 0- 0 0 00 0
Rakicevic 27 4- 8 10-10 5 04 19 Popovic 15 2- 5 0- 0 2 34 4 Aranitovic 19 2- 5 1-2 Totals
8 22 5 USA
200 21-68 18-22 39 13 27 68 MIN FG FT R A PF PTS
Ferguson 27 1- 5 4- 4 2 42 7 Newman 26 6-14 1- 2 0 03 15 Jackson 17 2- 6 4- 4 11 12 8 Giles Stone Battle
20 4- 8 2- 2 12 23 10 25 5-13 2- 4 8 20 12 9 3- 5 0- 1 0 02 7
Ramsey 14 2- 4 0- 0 1 12 4 King
Tatum Ellenson
Totals Serbia
USA
14 2- 4 0- 0 2 02 4 15 2-11 4- 4 4 01 9 9 0- 3 0- 0 2 02 0
Swanigan 15 2- 3 7-11 8 03 11 Rabb
16 20 12 20 -- 68 24 15 20 30 -- 89
3PT FGs-Serbia (8-24): Peno 4-7, Stojanovic 3-9, Rakicevic 1-2, Marinkovic 0-3, Aranitovic 0-2, Kenic 0-1; USA (5-17): Newman 2-6, Ferguson 1-3, Tatum 1-3, Battle 1-2, Ramsey 0-2, Jackson 0-1; TO-Serbia 16, USA-18; BLKS-Serbia 2, USA 2; STLS-Serbia 9, USA 8.
USA Basketball News
9 1- 2 0- 2 2 01 2 200 30-78 24-34 58 10 23 89
USA coaches, assistant Eric Flannery (left), assistant L.J. Goolsby (middle) and head coach Don Showalter (right), guided the USA U17 National Team to a sterling 7-0 record and gold medal at the 2015 FIBA U17 World Championship for Men. The U.S. impressively captured its seven wins by an average margin of victory of 38.1 points a game.
likewise stymied the Americans, and at 5:42 the USA lead stood at six, 46-40. A 7-0 spurt, which included a pair of
free throws and a 3-pointer from Ferguson, gave the Americans another double-digit cushion, 53-40. Serbia’s Vojislav Stojanovic, who
scored 18 on the night, netted back-to- back 3s that kept his side within striking distance 53-46 at 3:49 in the third. With the U.S. up 57-48 and fewer than 20 seconds left on the third period clock, Battle picked off a pass, sprinted in for a layup and Serbia never again got within single digits. Up 59-48, Showalter stressed during
the quarter break that the first five possessions would be key for the game’s outcome, and while both sides missed on their first two possessions, he was not far off.
Battle nailed his third 3-pointer of
the tournament at 8:34. After Serbia scored a lay-in, Swanigan followed that with four-straight points and then took a charge to force a turnover at the other end. Those possessions took the wind out of Serbia’s sails and gave the USA a 16-point, 66-50, lead with 6:38 to play.
From there the red, white and blue
continued to increase its lead and eventually earned its spot in the gold medal game. Overall, including a brief 3-2
Serbian lead, the U.S. trailed for just 58 seconds of the game. The USA outrebounded Serbia
58-39 and outscored Serbia 42-22 in the paint and 37-28 off the bench. The USA finished shooting 38.5 percent (30-78 FGs) from the field, while holding the Serbs to 30.9 percent (21-68 FGs).
USA 99, Australia 92 Behind 21 points and 11 rebounds
from tournament MVP Newman, the U.S. held off Australia 99-92 to claim the gold medal. “How many 3s can they make in
the last two minutes to keep the game close,” asked Showalter. “They’re a team that just doesn’t quit. They have a lot of pride. We played them two years ago in the gold medal game as well. So, from that standpoint I knew they would never, never give up. So, our kids didn’t overlook them. We knew we were going to get their best shot.” The USA scored first, but Australia
jumped ahead 7-4. Newman tied the score with his first 3-pointer of the night at 7:21 in the first quarter. However, Australia strung together a 10-0 run, capped by a pair of 3s from Dejan Vasiljevic, who ended the night hitting 6-of-14 from beyond the arc, and the U.S. was looking at its first double-digit deficit of the tournament, 17-7, at 5:31. There was no panic by the
59
Caroline Williams/USA Basketball
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