From USA Basketball Communications
BAHIA BLANCA, Argentina — The young Americans are rolling.
Behind six double-digit scorers, including two who posted double-doubles, the 2015 USA Basketball Men’s U16 National Team (3-0) defeated Brazil (0-3) 123-83 on Friday evening at the FIBA Americas U16 Championship in Bahía Blanca, Argentina. Three-time defending U16 gold medalists, the USA will meet up with host Argentina (2-1) in the July 13 medal semifinals (7:30 p.m. EDT).
Paced by a 21-point, 11-rebound performance by Wendell Carter Jr. (Pace Academy/Fairburn, Ga.), the U.S. also received a double-double from Jalen Hill(Corona Centennial H.S./Corona, Calif.), who came off the bench to contribute 14 points and 12 caroms. Also scoring in double figures were Kevin Knox II (Tampa Catholic H.S./Tampa, Fla.) with 16 points and four steals; Jordan Brown (Woodcreek H.S./ Roseville, Calif.) scored 14 points and grabbed nine boards; Gary Trent Jr. (Apple Valley H.S./Apple Valley, Minn.) scored 13 and Markus Howard (Findlay Prep, Nev./Chandler, Ariz.) chipped in 11 points.
“It’s kind of been our trait here over the past three games, not necessarily starting out slow, but I think the other team is fresh and hitting shots,” said USA head coach Don Showalter (Iowa City H.S., Iowa), who has also coached the previous three USA U16 National Teams. “Then we wear them down in the second quarter. We outscored Brazil 36-11 in the second quarter today. We really put a run on them in the second quarter. Part of that was our defense and part of that was kids coming in off the bench and giving us a really good effort.”
The USA scored 47 points off turnovers, while Brazil earned 19 points from the USA’s 21 turnovers. The USA won the battle of second chance points by a score of 37-4, the USA’s bench outscored Brazil 58-22, and the team outrebounded Brazil 69-28.
Brazil received a game-high 24 points from Danilo Santos.
Dominican Republic (2-1) finished second in Group A behind the United States after taking down Puerto Rico (1-2) 71-66. Canada (3-0) swept Group B after defeating Argentina (2-1) 76-62, while Mexico (1-2) picked up its first victory with an 88-70 win over Venezuela (0-3).
Canada will face the Dominican Republic in the medal semifinals with the winners of the medal semifinal games advancing to the June 14 (7:30 p.m. EDT) gold medal game.
The U16 tournament serves as the Americas zone qualifier for the 2016 FIBA U17 World Championship, and the top four finishing nations from the FIBA Americas U16 Championship, the four medal semifinalists — Argentina, Canada, Dominican Republic and the USA — have earned the four FIBA Americas spots for the 2016 U17 Worlds.
