Aug. 31, 2001
BEIJING, China -
After a heartbreaking loss to China in
the 2001 World University Games semifinal game on Thursday night, the 2001
USA Basketball Men's World University Games Team (7-1) came back to claim
the bronze medal with an 80-78 victory over Germany (5-2) on Friday
afternoon in Beijing, China.
Juan Dixon (Maryland / Baltimore, Md.), who averaged a team best 19.3 points a game during the tournament, poured in 26 points, 15 from beyond the arc, and Andre Barrett (Seton Hall / Bronx, N.Y.) iced a pair of free throws with 12.2 seconds to go to help lead the U.S.
squad past the Germans. The United States, which has always advanced to the
medal stand in 17 World University Games has now earned 12 golds, three
silvers and two bronze medals, while compiling an overall record of 117-7
(.944 winning percentage) since beginning World University Games play in
1965.
Maryland's Dixon, or college teammate Lonny Baxter (Silver Spring, Md.), led the U.S. in scoring in seven of the team's eight games. Dixon scored a team-high 26 points in each of the final two games. Baxter averaged an even 15 points a game through the first seven games, but was sick with gastroenteritis and did not play against Germany. Baxter led the U.S. with 27 points in the WUGs opening game win over Iran.
"Today's game was a real gutty performance on the part of our players," said USA and
Penn State University head coach Jerry Dunn. "Last night was a very
emotional and hard fought game. And a very tough one to lose. Any time
that happens, you're very vulnerable to a let down. I'm very proud of the
way our guys came out and showed an awful lot of character and fortitude."
With 6:34 remaining in the contest the United States held an 11-point,
76-65, upper hand. Germany then began to put the pressure on defensively,
while its offense chipped away at the gap and at 3:07, the U.S. lead had
been trimmed to 76-75. Roger Mason, Jr. (Virginia / Silver Spring, Md.)
made two free throws at 2:44 to increase it to 78-75. Over the next two
minutes neither team was able to convert and with 44 seconds to go Germany's
Lars Grubler, who finished the game shooting 13-of-16 from the charity
stripe, was sent to the line and made good on both attempts. A 3-point
attempt by Dixon hit the rim and Chris Owens (Texas / Duncanville, Texas)
beat the Germans to the rebound and quickly passed it outside to Barrett as
the clock wound down.
"It was tough, we showed a lot of character," said Dixon. "It was an emotional loss
yesterday, but we gave a great effort tonight. Germany had a great team and
we gave a great effort against them. We're leaving here with a medal and
that's what matters."
Barrett held onto the pass and was chased around before being fouled by the
Germans with 12.2 seconds to go. Dunn called for a time out and when the
teams returned to the floor, Barrett swished in both attempts to make it a
three-point game, 80-77.
"Under normal circumstances I would have called a time out after he made the
two free throws, but you can't do that with the international rules," stated
Dunn. "So I wanted to make sure that we understood what the situation was.
There were 12 seconds left on the clock, we were up by one and I wanted to
make sure these guys knew what all the scenarios were going to be so we
could set up our defense. I felt confident that Andre would make at least
one of them and that was really important. I knew we didn't want to give up
a three going down on the other end, so it was an opportune time to call the
time out."
"The first thing I thought was that if I missed these, we probably wouldn't
get a medal and everybody would be upset at me back home," said Barrett on
making both his free throws with 12.2 seconds to go. "I didn't want to let
the team down. Coach did a good thing by calling the time out. I had time
to think about it and take a deep breath before going out there and knocking
down the shots."
The United States pressured Germany and with two tenths of a second left on
the clock, Lynn Greer (Temple / Philadelphia, Pa.) stumbled and ran into
Germany's Pascal Roller, sending him to the line. After making his first,
Roller intentionally missed the second and Germany came up with the rebound,
but time expired with the U.S. holding onto the bronze medal and the 80-78
victory.
"They were getting pretty physical with us (toward the end of the game),"
said Dixon. "But we maintained our composure, stuck with it and came away
with the win."
Germany jumped out to a 16-6 lead in the first 4:28 of the contest and the
United States spent the rest of the first quarter battling back into the
game and by the time the first quarter was over, the U.S. trailed 22-19.
The Americans put on the defensive pressure in the second quarter and
Germany was unable to convert on its first nine possessions and with 6:00 to
go in the half the USA was on top 30-22. At 4:29 the USA was up 33-25, but
Germany began to make a comeback and cut the gap to 40-39 at halftime.
The third quarter saw four lead changes and two knotted scores before the
USA took the lead for good after Barrett went coast to coast to give the USA
a 51-50 edge with 4:52 to go in the third. The Americans, who received a
pair of treys apiece from Dixon and Greer in the third quarter's final
minutes, never again trailed and at the end of 30 minutes held a 69-59 upper
hand. The United States upped its lead to 75-63 at the 7:28 mark in the
fourth, but at 6:43, Earl Barron (Memphis / Clarksdale, Miss.) fouled out of
the game and Germany notched another two points from the line to make it
75-65.
In addition to Dixon's 24 points, the United States' bronze medal effort was
aided by 13 from Mason, and Melvin Ely (Fresno State / Harvey, Ill.) and
Greer pitched in 10 points apiece. Ely grabbed a team high seven rebounds
and he and Dixon notched three steals apiece.
The United States shot just 39.7 percent from the field, while Germany was
accurate on 46.0 percent of its shots. The USA held a slim 35-34 rebounding
edge and forced 19 turnovers, while only committing nine of its own.
Dunn is being assisted on the sidelines by collegiate head coaches Rod
Barnes from the University of Mississippi and Al Skinner from Boston College
(Mass.).
The World University Games, held every two years, is a multi-sport
competition open to athletes between the ages of 17 and 28 (born between
Jan. 1, 1973 and Dec. 31, 1983), who are, or have been within the past year,
a student at a college or university.
OFFICIAL BASKETBALL BOX SCORE -- G A M E T O T A L S
Germany vs USA
8/31/01 3:00 p.m. at Beijing, China
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VISITORS: Germany (5-2)
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
No. NAME FG FGA FG FGA FT FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
04 Roller * 5 12 2 7 3 4 0 7 7 1 15 4 4 0 0 40
09 Hennen * 3 9 1 1 2 5 2 5 7 3 9 3 3 0 0 33
13 Maras * 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
14 Kolodziejski * 5 10 3 5 6 8 0 2 2 3 19 1 2 0 0 30
15 Grubler * 4 4 0 0 13 16 0 10 10 2 21 1 6 0 0 35
06 Buchmiller 1 3 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 1 0 0 0 11
07 Seggelke 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
08 Ingerfurth 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 6
10 Gieseck 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 3
11 Huber-Saff. 4 7 0 0 1 2 3 3 6 4 9 0 2 1 0 27
12 Klink 1 4 1 2 0 0 0 1 1 1 3 1 0 0 1 12
TEAM ................................ 0 0 0 2
TOTALS 23 50 7 17 25 35 5 29 34 18 78 11 19 1 1 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-28 .464 2nd Half: 10-22 .455 Game: .460 DEADBALL
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-11 .406 2nd Half: 3- 6 .500 Game: .412 REBOUNDS
F Throw % 1st Half: 9-14 .643 2nd Half: 16-21 .762 Game: .714 5
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HOME TEAM: USA (7-1)
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
No. NAME FG FGA FG FGA FT FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
05 A. Barrett * 2 6 1 3 2 2 1 3 4 1 7 1 0 0 1 26
09 J. Dixon * 9 20 5 13 1 2 3 0 3 2 24 1 1 0 3 27
10 C. Owens * 2 8 0 0 2 6 1 3 4 4 6 1 2 0 1 27
14 R. Mason, Jr. * 5 10 1 2 2 2 2 3 5 1 13 1 1 0 0 25
15 M. Ely * 5 11 0 0 0 2 4 3 7 3 10 0 3 0 3 28
04 D. Dickau 1 5 0 2 0 0 0 1 1 2 2 0 1 0 1 13
06 L. Greer 3 7 2 4 2 2 1 1 2 1 10 0 1 0 1 12
07 E. Barron 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 5 2 0 0 0 0 5
08 A. Barbour 3 8 0 1 0 0 4 2 6 2 6 0 0 0 0 15
11 J. Reed 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5
12 T. Smith 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 3 0 0 0 0 1 17
13 L. Baxter DNP
TEAM ................................. 0 0 0
TOTALS 31 78 9 25 9 16 17 18 35 24 80 4 9 0 11 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 17-39 .436 2nd Half: 14-39 .359 Game: .397 DEADBALL
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-12 .250 2nd Half: 6-13 .462 Game: .360 REBOUNDS
F Throw % 1st Half: 3- 8 .375 2nd Half: 6- 8 .750 Game: .563 4
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OFFICIALS: Dimitrijevic (YUG), Junzhou (CHN)
TECHNICAL FOULS:
Germany - none
USA - none
ATTENDANCE: 1,500
SCORE BY PERIODS: 1st 2nd 3rd 4th OT1 OT2 TOTAL
Germany 22 17 20 19 78
USA 19 21 29 11 80
