Aug. 14, 2005
MAR DEL PLATA, Argentina - Behind 51 percent (36-of-71) and 11 three-pointers, the United States claimed fifth place at the 2005 FIBA U21 World Championship with a 111-86 victory over Argentina on Sunday afternoon in the fifth/sixth place game of the tournament. The U.S. (7-1) jumped out to an early lead and never looked back along the way to building a 32-point margin by halftime.
Villanova guard Allan Ray (Bronx, N.Y.) scored eight points on the afternoon. Ray was 3-of-4 from the floor, including a pair of three-pointers, and also contributed one assist, one rebound and a steal in 13 minutes.
J.J. Redick (Duke) was 6-of-11 from behind the three-point arc and led the U.S. with a game-high 22 points. Justin Gray (Wake Forest) drained three shots from long range to finish with 16 points, while Rudy Gay (Connecticut) had 15 points eight and rebounds. Nick Fazekas (Nevada) and Curtis Withers (Charlotte) scored 15 and 14 points, respectively, to round out five USA players in double figures.
The U.S. led 29-13 after the first quarter and stretched its advantage to 61-29 by halftime. Argentina was unable to keep up with that pace, as it made just 4-of-20 three-pointers for the day and gave up a 43-29 rebounding edge on the glass.
After going undefeated through five games of preliminary pool play, the USA was defeated 93-90 in overtime by Canada in the quarterfinals. That loss meant the U.S. squad could finish no higher than fifth place. Victories over Puerto Rico (99-79 on Saturday) and in today's game over Argentina gave the U.S. that fifth-place finish.
Ray, a senior-to-be at Villanova, was the leading scorer for the U.S. squad in the tournament. A starter in three of the eight contests, Ray averaged 12.3 points per game and was the team's high scorer on three occasions.
An accurate shooting touch was the quality that allowed Ray to be his team's leading scorer. For the tournament, he connected on 55.6 percent of his shots from the field (35-of-63). He was even better from three-point range, where he drained 62.1 percent of his attempts (18-of-29). Ray also made 10-of-11 free throws (90.9%), averaged 3.1 rebounds and totaled 13 assists and 10 steals.
During the 2004-05 collegiate season, Ray was the leading scorer for a Wildcat team that advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 for the first time since 1988. Ray played in all 32 of Villanova's games for the year, while averaging 16.3 points per contest and draining 80 three-pointers. The Wildcats finished the season with a 24-8 record, and were defeated 67-66 by eventual national champion North Carolina in a tense Sweet 16 game that wasn't decided until the closing seconds.
Later in the day on Saturday, Lithuania was set to play Greece in the gold medal game of the U21 World Championship. Lithuania defeated Australia on Saturday in the semifinals, while Greece defeated Canada. Australia and Canada were to play in the third/fourth place game.
