FIBA U17 - USA roll after sputter start, China clip France, Australia win second

KAUNAS (2012 FIBA U17 World Championship) – Reigning champions United States survived a sputter start to roll past Egypt and remain undefeated at the 2012 FIBA U17 World Championship while China surprised France and Australia knocked off Czech Republic in Group A action.

The Americans had an 11-2 lead but then could not shake an inspired Egyptian team, which actually led 30-27 before the Americans turned up their defensive pressure for a 111-73 victory.

Conner Frankamp and Jabari Parker both tallied 18 points and three other USA players scored in double figures as the Americans forced 26 turnovers.

“We came out sluggish, a little nonchalant after seeing we didn’t have much competition out there in previous games. We came out and didn’t play as hard as we needed to,” said Parker, whose team moved to 3-0 atop Group A.

Egypt dropped to 0-3 despite 13 points and 5 blocks from Moataz Hosny while Walid Aly chipped in 12 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists.

China improved to 2-1 by knocking off France 59-53 led by Zhao Ji Wei, who collected 12 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 4 steals and didn't have a single turnover. Han De Long chipped in with 20 points and Zhou Qi added 18 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks.

France dropped to 1-2 and will face a tough time to qualify for the Quarter-Finals despite 10 points each from Arthur Rozenfeld, Damien Inglis and Petr Cornelie.

Australia also moved their record to 2-1 with a tough 63-58 victory over the Czech Republic with Ben Simmons leading the way with 26 points, 10 rebounds and 5 steals.

The Czechs dropped to 1-2 despite 18 points from Adam Pechacek and 16 each from Jiri Soula and Martin Peterka.

After an off day on Monday, Group A action resumes on Tuesday with China taking on Czech Republic, before Australia face off against Egypt and the United States put their perfect record on the line in a clash with France.

FIBA