USA played with Latin passion to beat Uruguay 83-70 and avenge their preliminary round loss to the South Americans. USA will play Brazil in Saturday’s semi-finals of the FIBA AmeriCup in Managua, Nicaragua. Canada will play Argentina in the later semi-final at Managua’s Polideportivo Alexis Arguello.
USA trailed 45-38 at half-time after technical fouls gave Uruguay free points at the line.
But they started the third quarter with a 10-2 run, and then widened their cushion with a 11-4 burst to start for the fourth quarter.
Orlando Magic G-league guard Javonte Smart led USA with 27 points (5 threes), followed by Jerian Grant (13) and Zachary Auguste (13). Jack Cooley had 6 offensive boards out of 12 total rebounds.
Uruguay made only 3 of 20 from deep, while USA hit 10 triples. Santiago Vesconi led Uruguay with 17 but faced more intense defence than previous games. Emiliano Serres added 15.
“In the second half we executed really well,” said USA’s Langston Galloway. “In the final minutes, we got stops on defense, scored on the other end, and were able to pull away.“
(words and images Copyright Christopher Johnson Globalite Media all rights reserved)
Globalite Magazine 
You must be logged in to post a comment.