MAR DEL PLATA, Argentina — Playing for pride with the gold medal out of reach, the 2005 USA U21 World Championship Team ran out to a 60-35 halftime lead before posting a 99-79 victory over Puerto Rico here Saturday at the 2005 FIBA U21 World Championship.
Behind a combined 33 points from Justin Gray (Wake Forest) and Allan Ray (Villanova), the USA improved its record to a tournament second best 6-1. The U.S. will face in Sunday’s fifth place game, scheduled for 2:45 p.m., the winner of Saturday’s late game between Argentina (3-3) and Slovenia
(2-4).
“I thought that the biggest message that we delivered was that they’re big boys,” said USA and Saint Joseph’s University head coach Phil Martelli.
“Everybody was responsible for us losing yesterday. Players, coaches, everybody had a hand in that. Its human nature, but no one feels sorry for you. Even though you think that they should feel sorry for you. We went back to the method we used in Dallas. We asked for maximum effort. We told them that there would be a constant rotation of players. And the second quarter was the difference. The second half was an exercise in futility and it’s a shame that guys don’t grasp the idea that every opportunity should be maximized.”
It took the first quarter, which saw seven lead changes and three knotted scores, for the USA to shake off the disappointment of last night’s quarterfinal loss. Neither team grabbed more than a three-point lead and a 3-pointer by the islanders’ Alex Galindo ended the quarter with the teams tied up 21-21.
After shooting just 31.9 percent (8-21 FGs) in the opening stanza, the U.S. came out on fire in the second and shot a much-improved 51.9 percent (14-27 FGs). Receiving nine consecutive points from four different players, the U.S. took the lead for good, 30-21, with 7:28 to go in the half. It all began with a Rudy Gay (Connecticut / Baltimore, Md.) steal and pass to LSU’s Glen Davis at 9:44 and was capped by a Justin Gray steal, which led to a Ray layup on an inbounds pass at 7:28.
Davis played 12 minutes and scored five points with three rebounds and one steal.
“It was a good game. We played good. We bounced back,” said Davis. “We’re still trying to grasp the fact that we lost. We’re trying to go out there and play hard the rest of the way. We did that (Saturday), we went out there, played hard and came out with the win.”
At 4:23 the USA’s lead was still nine points, 38-29, when Rajon Rondo (Kentucky) sparked a 7-0 run with a 3-pointer at 4:10. Puerto Rico scored at 2:57 to make it a 14-point game, 45-31, but a 15-4 scoring spree, which included four 3-pointers, closed the half with the United States in command 60-35. Justin Gray, who made a free throw at 1:44, scored the USA’s final 10 points of the period following a trio of treys, all assisted by Rondo. In all, the USA outmatched Puerto Rico 39-14 in the second 10 minutes of play.
Northeastern University (Mass.) guard Jose Barea led Puerto Rico with a game-high 23 points.