USA Basketball: Medal Round
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.-The USA Red squad remained undefeated and took home the Gold Medal with a 112-109 overtime win over the USA Blue squad. Leading the way for the Red squad, Devin Ebanks poured in 35 points and had some key buckets down the stretch.
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Playing without Delvon Roe and Malcolm Lee, the Blue squad, nonetheless, ran out to a 55-47 halftime lead behind the strong play of Scotty Hopson and Jrue Holiday.
Hopson, who improved his stock more than any prospect at the event, scored 35 points in the game to match Ebanks. Scoring on three-pointers and a plethora of floaters, Hopson went 15-24 from the field and grabbed seven rebounds.
Holiday, who led the event in assists per game, dished out seven assists to just one turnover. A player who is strong in every aspect of the game, Holiday also blocked three shots, grabbed six rebounds and scored 19 points on 9-18 shooting.
But in the third quarter, Devin Ebanks went to work as the Red squad outscored the Blue squad by 15 points. Ebanks went 14-23 for the game and hit 3-6 from three. He also grabbed seven rebounds.
Lance Stephenson also had a big game for the Red squad, scoring 22 points on 9-15 shooting to go along with five rebounds and five steals.
Playing with the better energy, Ed Davis also contributed 19 points and 11 rebounds to the winning cause.
With Roe out for the Blue squad, Storm Warren got extra minutes and came through with a strong 20 point, 15 rebound effort.
USA White 123, Brazil 101
As expected, the White squad captured the Bronze Medal behind a 34 point, 11 rebound effort by Tyreke Evans. Greg Monroe also finished off a No. 1 solidifying effort during the event, with 20 points, 15 rebounds, six assists, three blocks and two assists. Dexter Strickland contributed 23 points and nine assists.
Semifinal match up: USA Blue 122, USA White 113
In a rematch of the exciting preliminary game, the White squad, led by Monroe and Evans couldn't duplicate a come from behind win like the did in the preliminary game.
As in the first match up, Evans struggled with foul trouble, but still managed 19 points, eight rebounds and three assists. Monroe had 22 points, eight rebounds and five blocks, but the lead scorer for the White squad with 27 points was Korie Lucious, who went back and forth with Malcolm Lee of the Blue squad.
Lee pumped in 23 points for the winners, but the high scorer for the game was his teammate Delvon Roe, who finished with 33 points and 12 rebounds. Demarcus Cousins struggled to finish shots, but did have a game high 14 rebounds. Scotty Hopson was also a pivotal player for the winning team, scoring 22 points to go along with nine rebounds.
The stabilizing force for the Blue squad, however, was Jrue Holiday. The do everything guard scored 20 points to go along with seven rebounds, eight assists to only two assists and three steals. Down the stretch Holiday took over game, by over powering both Lucious and Dexter Strickland.
Recruiting news
Al-Farouq Aminu has eliminated North Carolina and is down to Wake Forest and Georgia Tech. The lure of possibly playing with Tony Woods is attractive to Aminu, yet playing at his hometown school where his brother and other friends are on the team is appealing as well.
Statistical Leaders
Scoring: Delvon Roe 30.3 points per game
Rebounding: Greg Monroe 12.6 rebounds per game
Assists: Jrue Holiday 8 assists per game
Steals: Dexter Strickland 2.8 steals per game
Blocks: Greg Monroe 3.6 blocks per game
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