USA - Men's U18 team opens with dominating 111-64 win

SAN ANTONIO (FIBA Americas U18 Championship) - Showing athleticism on both ends of the court right from the start of their game versus Uruguay (0-1), Jerryd Bayless (St. Mary's H.S. / Phoenix, Ariz.) and Michael Beasley (Oak Hill Academy, Va. / Frederick, Md.) scored 17 points each and the host USA Men's U18 Team (1-0) sprinted ahead early and ran on to a commanding 111-64 victory over Uruguay (0-1) Wednesday night in its debut at the 2006 FIBA Americas U18 Championship for Men at Bill Greehy Arena, St. Mary's University in San Antonio, Texas. The USA is off Thursday and wraps up its preliminary play Friday against Brazil in a 7 p.m. (CDT) game.

In other action Wednesday, Argentina (1-0) romped past the Bahamas (0-1) 99-59, while Canada (1-0) handled Puerto Rico (0-1) 90-73.

"It was extremely important to get out to a quick start. In your first game you want to build confidence right away and you want to make sure you don't give the other team any confidence..I thought we came out very focused and took it to them right away," said USA and University of Washington head coach Lorenzo Romar.

"I was happy with our defense for the most part, but we have to work on transition defense. I was most pleased with our sharing of the basketball. We did a good job of sharing the ball, especially in the first half," added Romar.

The U.S. started quickly and with 5:17 left in the opening quarter had sprinted out to a 14-4 lead behind four points from Kyle Singler (South Medford H.S. / Medford, Ore.) and Spencer Hawes (Seattle Prep / Seattle, Wash.). Uruguay cut the USA lead to 18-11, but the Americans closed out the quarter impressively and led 33-18. The U.S., which did not commit a turnover in the first 10 minutes, shot a sizzling 68.4 percent in the opening quarter to Uruguay's frigid 38.9 percent.

Defense was the theme of the second quarter as the USA outscored Uruguay 24-7 to take a commanding 57-25 lead to the locker room. Uruguay managed to make just 2-of-14 field goal tries.

The USA advantage stood at 77-43 after the third stanza, and the U.S. men rolled on in for the win.

"We were well prepared and went out there and took care of business," commented USA guard Bayless. "Coach Romar stressed before the game to come out and put a choke hold on them, and that's what we did. Everybody came out making shots and just pushing the ball up the court and we got a big lead in the first half.

"One of Coach Romar's biggest assets is defensive pressure and staying with them full court all the time, and so we came out and that's what we did. Johnny Flynn started out on the ball and took their ballhandler out of the picture from the get go."

In a game that saw 11 of the 12 U.S. players score, including five in double figures, the USA's offensive show, in addition to high scorers Bayless and Beasley, was highlighted by Taylor King (Mater Dei H.S. / Huntington Beach, Calif.), who made a team high three 3-pointers to finish with 15 points, while Hawes finished with 11 points and a team high eight rebounds and Chris Allen (Meadowcreek H.S. / Lawrenceville, Ga.) tallied 10 points and six assists.

The U.S. dominated the glass outrebounding Uruguay 50 to 27, including 25 offensive boards. The Americans finished shooting 47.4 percent from the floor, but made just 7-of-25 3-point tries. Uruguay finished shooting a dismal 38.7 percent, including 4-of-18 from beyond the 3-point arc.

Assisting Romar along the USA sidelines are Georgia Tech head mentor Paul Hewitt and DePaul University (Ill.) head coach Jerry Wainwright.

Preliminary round play continues on June 29 and concludes June 30. The top two finishing teams in each preliminary round group advance to the medal round semifinals on Saturday, July 1. Teams placing third and fourth in each preliminary round group will advance to the consolation semifinals on Saturday. The FIBA Americas U18 Championship For Men Finals will be held Sunday, July 2. The top four finishing teams at the 2006 FIBA Americas U18 Championship qualify for the 2007 FIBA U19 World Championship.

USA Basketball