The 2008 USA Basketball Men’s U18 National Team (3-0) rolled over Puerto Rico, 106-64, Wednesday night at the 2008 FIBA Americas U18 Championship in Formosa, Argentina.Five players scored in double digits, including University of Oregon freshman-to-be Matt Humphrey (Hales Franciscian H.S / Chicago, Ill.), UCLA freshman-to-be Malcom Lee (John W. North H.S. / Riverside, Calif.) and University of Connecticut freshman-to-be Kemba Walker (Rice H.S. / New York, N.Y.), who each scored 15; Travis Wear (Mater Dei H.S. / Santa Ana, Calif.) notched his third double-digit game with 13; while University of Alabama freshman-to-be JaMychal Green (St. Jude H.S. / Montgomery, Ala.) finished with 12 points.
The USA advances to the semifinals and will play Texas commit Tristan Thompson of St. Benedict’s and Canada (2-1) today at 6 p.m., while Argentina (3-0) will play Puerto Rico for the right to advance to Friday’s gold medal game. All four of the medal semifinalists have qualified to compete in the 2008 FIBA U19 World Championship, slated to be played in New Zealand.
In the day’s other games host Argentina defeated Canada 74-64, Venezuela (1-2) captured an 85-64 victory over the Bahamas (0-3), and Uruguay (1-2) earned a 63-51 win over Mexico (0-3).
“What really pleases me is that so many guys contributed to this,” said USA and Davidson College head coach Bob McKillop. “Every guy on this roster played a role, had a part and was very instrumental to our success. It was a 40-minute effort. Our guys went from the opening tap to the end once again. For a coaching staff, we could want nothing more.”
Get additional stories about the USA U18 team here:
**USA Routs Bahamas; Echenique Posts 25 & 15
**Wear, Walker Lead USA Over Venezuela; Echenique Misses Double-Double
**Dom Cheek and Kemba Walker make team, Lance Stephenson cut.
**Enigmatic Lance Making Headlines
**Cheek: ‘Villanova Showing the Most Love‘
**USA Cuts to 14 Players; Lance & Dom’s Lists
Alessandro / July 17, 2008
US is set to play Tristan Thompson and Canada tonight.
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