The US dominated the FIBA Americas U18 Championship and won the gold on Sunday. The champions convincingly defeated Brazil in the finals with a score of 102-60.
Team USA squad remained fearsome throughout their run. The way the team the US defeated Brazil was nothing new in the tournament as every other opponent got defeated by the US in the same way. The US copped and romped to the gold medal with ease. So how exactly did the finals go?
It all began when the US took an unprecedented lead of 11-0 right from the start. The point of attention was Kel’el Ware who scored often both from in and outside the paint. His scoring ability was too much for the Brazilian defense which had a long and tiring day ahead of it.
However, it was just the beginning for the Brazilian defense, as soon as Cam Whitmore came in, things only got worse for Brazil. He made a tournament-high of 30 points for him with his superb performance. He also made 12 rebounds and a downtown shooting of 4/8. The US had a massive lead of 35 points going into the halftime.
It was a little too late for the Brazilians from the halfway stage. Brazil’s Eduardo Bersh and Reynan Camilo Dos Santos were the only two players to reach the double figures. The American defense proved too much for both players could only manage 25 points from the field.
The US defense was solid, it only gave a room of 22 points in the paint to Brazil. This sent the Brazilians to free throws where they could manage to score only 13 times.
As for the US offense, every player scored points who set foot on the court. Besides Whitmore’s 30 and Ware’s 21, Guard Mark Armstrong had nine points, three rebounds, assists, steals, and a block. Eric Dailey Jr., in his 17 minutes of play, added 9 points, 4 rebounds, and finished +25.
Brazil ended the tournament with a silver and a ticket to FIBA U19 WC in Hungary. Other countries that booked their spot in the U19 WC are Canada and Argentina from the Americas.
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