McNamara, Rautins and Roberts Each Perform On International Stage Saturday
8/15/2005 10:55:03 AM | Men's Basketball
Gerry McNamara (Scranton, PA / Syracuse), Andy Rautins (Syracuse, NY / Syracuse) and Terrence Roberts (Jersey City, NJ / Syracuse) each saw action in international competition on Saturday. McNamara and Team USA defeated Slovakia, 85-70, Rautins had 14 points and two steals but Team Canada lost in the semifinals of the Under-21 championship to Greece, 74-61, and the USA Under-21 squad won against Puerto Rico, 99-79 as Roberts contributed eight points and seven rebounds.
IZMIR, Turkey -- Craig Smith (Boston College / Los Angeles, Calif.) dominated the paint with 23 points and nine rebounds as the 2005 USA Men's World University Games Team jumped out to a big early lead and coasted to an 85-70 victory over Slovakia, with the Americans improving to 2-0 in preliminary play at the World University Games in Izmir, Turkey. McNamara had six points, four rebounds and two assists.
Joining Smith in double figures for the Americans were Shelden Williams (Duke / Forest Park, Okla.) with 13 points, while Vincent Grier (Minnesota / Charlotte, N.C.) added 10 points. Behind Williams' 10 rebounds, the USA out-rebounded Slovakia 47-25.
With Smith scoring all 10 points, the USA jumped out to a 10-6 lead in the first quarter. A 3-point field goal by Chris Hernandez (Stanford / Fresno, Calif.) late in the period capped a 17-8 run and gave the Americans a 27-14 lead after one.
MAR DEL PLATA, Argentina -- Playing for pride with the gold medal out of reach, the 2005 USA U21 World Championship Team (6-1) ran out to a 60-35 halftime lead before posting a 99-79 victory over Puerto Rico (3-4) on Saturday afternoon at the 2005 FIBA U21 World Championship in Mar del Plata, Argentina. Behind a combined 33 points from Justin Gray (Wake Forest / Charlotte, N.C.) and Allan Ray (Villanova / Bronx, N.Y.), 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 3:45 p.m. (EDT), the winner of tonight's Argentina (3-3) versus Slovenia (2-4) contest, which will tip-off at 8:00 p.m. (EDT). Puerto Rico will face the loser of that game in the seventh place game. The gold medal game will feature the winner of tonight's Lithuania (6-1) versus Australia (7-0) contest against Greece (6-1), which downed Canada (3-4) 74-61 in today's first medal semifinal.
"I thought that the biggest message that we delivered was that they're big boys," said USA and Saint Joseph's head coach Phil Martelli. "Everybody was responsible for us losing yesterday. Players, coaches, everybody had a hand in that. It's 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 Glen Davis (Louisiana State / Baton Rouge, La.) at 9:44 and was capped by a Justin Gray steal, which led to a Ray layup on an inbounds pass at 7:28.
At 4:23 the USA's lead was still nine points, 38-29, when Rajon Rondo (Kentucky / Louisville, Ky.) 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.
The loss to Greece put Team Canada in the bronze-medal game on August 14.
