Aug. 10, 2005
MAR DEL PLATA, Argentina - The 2005 USA U21 World Championship Team faced its toughest test of the preliminary round on Wednesday afternoon, but emerged victorious over Slovenia 82-79 from Mar Del Plata, Argentina. The U.S. squad concluded preliminary play with a perfect 5-0 record and will now move on to the quarterfinals. The team's next game will be against either Canada or Israel on Friday at 8:00 p.m. EST.
In Wednesday's victory, Villanova guard Allan Ray (Bronx, N.Y.) scored 12 points and had five steals in just 20 minutes on the floor. Ray was 5-of-9 from the floor and 2-of-2 from the free throw line for the game, and also had two rebounds and two assists. His five steals were part of 25 accumulated by the U.S. squad, which forced 30 Slovenia turnovers.
Ray averaged 16.4 minutes per game while seeing time in all five games the U.S. played during the preliminary round. He ranked third on the team with 11.4 points per game. In the five games, Ray shot 53.8 percent from the field (21-of-39), 62.5 percent from three-point range (10-of-16) and 100.0 percent (5-of-5) from the free throw line. He also averaged 2.6 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game and had an 8:6 assist-to-turnover ratio. Ray's top performance came in a 94-79 victory over Puerto Rico on Sunday evening. In that game, he was 5-for-5 from three-point range and scored a team-high 20 points.
In the game against Slovenia, the U.S. faced a 26-13 deficit after the first quarter, but roared back with a 36-18 margin in the second period and went into halftime with a 49-44 advantage. The five-point lead was still intact at the end of the third quarter, and the U.S. held off Slovenia in the fourth quarter. An off-balance three-point attempt at the buzzer prevented Slovenia from tying the score and sending the game into overtime.
If the U.S. wins its quarterfinal game on Friday, it will advance to the second semifinal game on Saturday at 8:00 p.m. A loss in the quarterfinal game would drop the team to a consolation bracket and a 1:15 p.m. game time on Saturday.
