BELEM, Brazil – The USA Basketball Men’s U16 National Team goes for the gold Sunday.

That’s because the undefeated young Americans propelled themselves into a sixth-straight FIBA Americas U16 Championship gold medal game, clubbing Argentina, 90-58, in the semifinals Saturday at the Guilherme Paraense Arena.

The USA plays unbeaten Canada in Sunday’s gold medal game, which tips at 7:30 p.m. EDT and be streamed live online on YouTube.com/FIBA and Facebook.com/USABasketball.

The USA also is 4-0 against Canada in U16 games.

The game also marks the third-straight gold medal clash against Canada in FIBA Americas U16 play. Canada advanced by virtue of a 97-81 win over Dominican Republic. Argentina and Dominican Republic play for bronze Sunday.

Jabari Smith Jr. (Sandy Creek H.S./Tyrone, Ga.) shot 5-of-8 from the field and 7-of-8 from the line to finish with a team-high 18 points; Chris Livingston (Buchtel H.S./Akron, Ohio), who was perfect on his eight free throw attempts to tie a USA U16 single-game record for free throw percentage and free throws made, notched a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds; and Amari Bailey (Sierra Canyon H.S./Chatsworth, Calif.) and Jalen Duren (Roman Catholic H.S., Pa.)/New Castle, Del.) chipped in 12 points apiece.

The USA was red-hot from the line, hitting a USA U16 tournament record 82.8% (24-29 FTs) of its free throw attempts. The previous record of 80% (12-15 FTs) was set by in 2017.

“It was tough. Argentina is very well coached, and they play with so much passion,” said USA U16 head coach Mike Jones of DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Md., who is now 30-2 overall and 7-1 as a head coach with USA Basketball against international teams. “I could not be more proud of our guys. It was not an easy task. Argentina played so hard, they made us raise our level. But honestly, it’s great preparation for tomorrow because that’s the level we have to play at tomorrow.”

Though the USA never trailed, the game was a grind.

Leading 22-15 after the first quarter, the USA outscored Argentina 25-17 in the second quarter for a 47-32 halftime lead.

In the first half Argentina swarmed the U.S. defensively and disrupted shots, resulting in a USA tournament low 9.1% (1-11 3pt FGs) shooting from outside the arc.

“We have so much talent on our team,” Jones said. “Some guys can make shots; some guys are good around the basket and we just try to utilize whatever we’ve got going. I thought that today we had a decent amount of balance. We didn’t make as many shots as we had been making, but the ball flowed, and we know we’ll make some of those tomorrow.”

With outside shots still not falling, the U.S. spent the third quarter going inside, which resulted in eight points on 10 attempts from the line and 10 points in the paint as the red, white and blue expanded its lead to 68-44 at the end of the third period.

“We just pounded the ball inside,” said Livingston on how his team countered its outside shooting woes. “We ran the floor and got a lot of fast-break points, so the shooting didn’t matter in the long run.”

Argentina scored five quick points to open the fourth quarter and narrowed its deficit to 19 points, 68-48. However, a 17-1 USA run, which saw Bailey score eight points in a two-minute span, helped put the game out of reach.

“It was a tough game to grind out,” Smith said. “Argentina came out, they played hard, they gave it their all. They’re a pretty good team. They were hitting a lot of shots and we were struggling on the offensive end a little bit, but as the game kept going, we picked it up.”

In all, the USA scored 50 points in the paint and notched 33 points from Argentina’s 30 turnovers. The North Americans also forced Argentina into shooting just 31.3% (20-64 FGs) from the field and outscored Argentina 36-7 points on the break.

USA Basketball has claimed the gold medal in all five editions of the biennial event, which was first held in 2009. With its semifinal victory over Argentina, the USA is now 30-0 in men’s FIBA Americas U16 Championship action.