USA White takes the Gold

O.J. Mayo and Wayne Ellington could not shoot the Blue squad to victory, but the team effort of the White secured the Gold Medal in the International Sports Invitational in San Diego, Calif. The efforts of Paul Harris, Bill Walker and Greg Oden led the way for the White squad's 107-85 win.

The Blue squad came out strong behind the scoring of Ellington and Mayo, but the scoring of Harris, Walker and Oden kept the game tight. The White squad took a 25-23 lead into the second quarter and began to stretch the lead. Kyle Singler came off the bench and scored 6 points early in the second period. Javaris Crittenton also provided a spark early in the period.

With 3:12 left in the half and the White squad winning 46-41, Mayo took an inadvertent elbow to the head on a Harris pivot and drive to the basket. Mayo missed the rest of the half getting stitches in the locker room. During this stretch, the White squad pulled out to a 12 point lead and never looked back.

Both teams played each other virtually even in a sloppy third quarter full of turnovers. The fourth quarter began with the White squad up 76-66, but Mayo only scored 2 points in the fourth quarter after scoring 29 for the game and the route was on. Mike Conley was a key contributor for the White squad this period. He finished with 6 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals. Most of these numbers were produced in the last quarter.

Mayo was the game high scorer with 31 points on 11 of 24 shooting. Coming into the game, he was 10 for 17 from three but only hit 5 of 15 threes against the constant defensive pressure of Harris. Mayo also had 6 rebounds and 7 steals but did have 5 turnovers as he continually was pushing the envelope.

Ellington, who was guarded primarily by Bill Walker, finished with 27 points on 11 of 23 shooting. Even more impressive than is scoring were the game high 12 rebounds that he snagged.

Registering a double-double for the victorious White squad was Greg Oden. He scored 21 points on flawless shooting, hitting 9 of 9 from the field and 3 of 3 from the line, and grabbed a team high 11 rebounds to go along with 2 blocks.

Walker registered a solid stat line as well, scoring 18 points, grabbing 6 rebounds, dishing out 4 assists, blocking 2 shots and getting 2 steals.

Harris, the emotional leader of the White squad, played another strong all around game while leading his team in scoring. He finished with 27 points on 11 of 22 shooting from the field and 5 of 5 shooting from the line. He also had 6 rebounds and 4 assists with only 1 turnover.

Darrell Arthur also contributed 9 points, 6 rebounds and 3 blocks.

Scottie Reynolds scored 8 points, dished out 6 assists and grabbed 5 rebounds.

A complete box score and cummulative statistics for the event can be found at usabasketball.com.