Despite a team-high 21 points from Jeremy Lamb, the USA U-19 world championship team lost to Russia 79-74 on Friday in a quarterfinal-round game in Riga, Latvia, to end its gold medal hopes.
All that really needs to be pointed to is 3-point shooting. Russia (4-3) made 12 of its 29 tries from beyond the 3-point arc while the USA (5-2) was 0-for-9 from 3-point land.
“We had 18 offensive rebounds, but again that 3-point shot is a great equalizer,” said USA and George Mason head coach Paul Hewitt. “We went 0-for-9, they went 12-for-29. That’s a pretty tough margin to overcome. I think given the difference there, I thought our guys battled and gave us a chance even though we were outshot from the 3-point line 12 to zip.”
The U.S. now moves into the consolation semifinals bracket, and will meet 5-2 Poland, 87-75 losers to Lithuania earlier Friday, in a 7:30 a.m. (EDT) game. The USA-Poland winner advances into Sunday’s game to determine 5th and 6th places, while the loser will play in the game for 7th and 8th places.
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