Purdue’s Swanigan, Team United States of America win gold at FIBA U19 World Championships

Jalen Brunson carried his team to victory with 14 points, seven assists and zero turnovers in 40 minutes of play. They led for most of the game and in the fourth quarter we broke the game open. “It’s going to be a great, great challenge for our team”. Brooks later fouled out of the game and Croatia pulled away for the win.

The United States plays Croatia in the final game at 1:30 p.m. Sunday. And Croatia’s field goal percentage (35.7 percent) was a tad worse than Team USA’s (36.7 percent).

Okay that might be a bit extreme, but Tatum did throw down a sickeningly handsome dunk on a Greek player in Saturday’s FIBA U19 World Championships semifinal match-up between Greece and the United States.

Now, the attention for both players shifts back to the AAU competition for the rest of the summer and getting ready for their senior seasons, while also deciding where they’ll eventually play college basketball. We didn’t win anything tonight. “The coaches have been saying that I really need to stay aggressive in order for our team to win”. “I think that’s negating some of the things we’re doing better”.

Team US led 14-13 after the first quarter, 34-31 at halftime and 50-47 entering the fourth period.

Trailing 10-5, the USA outscored Greece 12-2 to finish off the first stanza and grab a 17-12 lead. The Purdue-bound center had one rebound, which came on defense.

“I felt locked and loaded”. I think the fact that he got embarrassed on his home floor – it was in Crete, Greece after all – will be the most painful part of the encounter. “So I tried to close my eye; just really concentrate; and then I just used the right follow-through; get myself right, and they went in”. “I think it’s a credit to my teammates for finding me as well”.