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Team USA Displays Fireworks Against Egypt

By: Brett Blevins

The Fourth of July meant another victory for the young men respresenting the USA in under-19 action. Unselfishness was the key, with seven U.S. players in double figures. They were paced by Pitt's Ashton Gibbs with 18 points and a team-high 6 assists.

Butler's Shelvin Mack had 14, Northwestern's John Shurna had 13, Georgia's Howard Thompkins had 12, Ole Miss's Terrico White and Washington St.'s Klay Thompson had 11 a piece, and Butler's Gordon Hayward added 10 points and 4 blocked shots. Kentucky's Darius Miller chipped in 9 points and a team-high 9 rebounds.

The win gives Team USA Group B's #1 seed. The will face Lithuania July 6th, Puerto Rico on the 7th, and Greece on the 8th to conclude round two.

The U.S. team started fast and never let up.

"This (game) was more of a run and gun game. We just took advantage of the transition offense that they gave us and we got a lot of easy baskets and went from there," said Gibbs, who made 8-of-11 shots in the game.

Pitt coach Jamie Dixon seems to have his team focused on the task at hand and buying in defensively.

"It's easier to get up and down the court more when you get stops on the defensive end, your defense leads to easy transition buckets on offense," Shelvin Mack said about the game.

When asked about the team being 3-0, Mack kept it in perspective. "I think we're looking pretty good, but we know it's not over, we still have a long way to go and we need to take it one game at a time." That focus is exactly what Coach Dixon wants this team to have.

Other undefeated teams left include Australia (3-0), Croatia (3-0), and Greece (2-0). Greece plays their third game today.

This article is associated with the following player(s):
Gibbs, Ashton
Mack, Shelvin
Miller, Darius
Thompkins, Howard
Thompson, Klay
White, Terrico

POSTED: 7-4-2009

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