USA/TUN – USA remain unbeaten after big second half against Tunisia
ISTANBUL (2010 FIBA World Championship) - The United States waited until the third quarter before finally putting away a pesky Tunisia in the last Group B game for both sides at the FIBA World Championship.
Eric Gordon had 21 points for the USA, who only led 39-33 at half-time and 47-39 midway through the third quarter before turning on the afterburners and racing to a 92-57 victory.
Mike Krzyzewski's men, who had already clinched first place in the pool, won for the fifth straight time and remained undefeated in all of their games this summer.
Tunisia lost for the fifth consecutive game in Istanbul but provided a lot of thrills for their fans back home.
Point guard Marouan Kechrid was among their standout performers at the World Championship and he had 15 points against the Americans - all on three-pointers.
Macram Ben Romdhane also enjoyed the occasion for Tunisia, slam-dunking his way to 11 points and coming up a couple of rebounds shy of a double-double.
After the clash and on the court, some of Tunisia's players took the opportunity to have their photos taken with the Los Angeles Lakers NBA champion Lamar Odom of Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose, two of the most famous players in the USA roster.
The Americans will face Angola in the Eight-Final after the FIBA Africa Championship gold medalists suffered a heavy defeat to Australia in Group A to finish fourth.
Tunisia, the bronze-medal winners at last year's FIBA Africa Championship, have exited the competition.
You can watch the complete highlights of this game and much more at FIBATV.Com.
Quotes:
USA head coach Mike Krzyzewski: "We thought in our pool every team played hard. Tunisia's play was symbolic of that type of play, as they fought on every possession. An outstanding first half for them. You get 25 offensive rebounds, it means that you never give up on the ball and I admire that. Although we need to work on our stuff a little better, I thought we played hard in the second half.
"These past two games were different for us. We wanted to make sure we didn't get any serious injuries. We wanted to do a few things to get us in better shape. We made more passes in the second half and got the ball a little bit quicker. I think we are fairly healthy, we are 100% with attitude. In practice, we have to be better.
"We need to be ready for Angola because in the next stage, if we don't win, we don't win it.
"It's kind of like the NCAA tournament. I always want to look good. They is a tendency for an athlete to know when they have to compete at a high level.”
Tunisia head coach Adel Tlatli: "Congratulations to the USA team. We did a good job in the first half but the defense of USA team changed in the second half. Being this our first participation in the World Championship, I am happy with the work done by my players. It's the beginning, it's new history in Tunisia. But we have to invest money in the sport in order to compete at the highest level."
FIBA
