---

Playing its first game after just six practices, despite 26 points from guard Charlie Bell (Leche Rio-Spain/Michigan State ‘01) the USA Men's World Championship Qualifying Team (0-1) fell to Canada (1-1) 95-86 Thursday night in the first of its three COPA International Tournament games in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

The USA squad is looking to gain international experience before competing Aug. 24-Sept 4 in the FIBA Americas Men's World Championship Qualifying Tournament. The COPA International Tournament is a four-team, round-robin tournament also featuring senior national teams from Argentina, Brazil and Canada. The USA continues tournament play Friday against Argentina (1-1) (5 p.m. EDT), who fell 91-59 to Brazil (1-0) in Thursday's other game. The tournament concludes Saturday with the USA meeting host Brazil (9 a.m. EDT).

"I told the guys in the locker room this is the first time I've seen a lot of them ever play in a real game. So this is a learning process. We are not the favorites and we're going to have to improve and we will, I'm sure we will," said USA head coach Mo McHone. "I was disappointed in our defense. We gave up too many points, but we were pushing the ball and trying to get quick shots and when you do that you're going to give up points."

"The game comes very easy to Charlie Bell, thank goodness. He is an extremely good player, but we're going to have to get some production from some of the other players. But I feel like once we get to know each other we'll be all right. We threw the ball away on the fastbreak three or four times where the guy was open, we just haven't played together enough."

In a game of very different halves, the U.S. opened the contest by taking a 10 point lead, 21-11 with 4:04 left in the first quarter. After Tyus Edney (Lottomatica Roma-Italy/UCLA ‘95) scored with just 0.2 seconds left in the quarter, the Americans led 34-27.

Canada outscored the U.S. 14-6 over the second quarter's first 4:14 and following a 3-pointer from Randy Nohr grabbed a 41-40 lead. The two teams continued to battled for control and after Vidal Massiah tallied the final four points of the half, Canada owned a 49-48 lead at halftime.

The third quarter was the USA's downfall as Canada outgunned the Americans 24-11 with 15 of Canada's points coming on 5-of-11 shooting from beyond the 3-point arc. Tang Hamilton (Fayetteville-D-League/ Mississippi State ‘01) scored off a drive to cut Canada's lead to 56-52, but Canada then reeled off eight consecutive points, six off a pair of 3-pointers, to push its lead to 12, 64-52. The Canadians upped their advantage to 14, 70-56, and capped the quarter on a high note when Jermaine Anderson threw in a shot from just inside half court at the buzzer to pad Canada's lead to 73-59.

The U.S. cut the deficit to nine several times, but after Canada knocked down back-to-back threes it had its biggest lead of the night, 91-76 with 3:11 left.

The U.S. battled back one final time. Posting on a 10-0 run that was fueled by 3-pointers from Lynn Greer (Dynamo Moscow-Russia/Temple ‘02) and Marque Perry (Olympicos-Greece/Sain Louis ‘02), the score stood at 91-86 with 1:04 to play after Aaron McGhee (Pusan KTF-Korea/Oklahoma ‘02) sank a pair of free throws. Canada's Denham Brown made one of two free throws to make it a six point game with 1:01 showing and that was as close as the US would get after missing 3-point tries on consecutive possessions.

In addition to Bell's 26 point showing on 6-of-11 shooting from 3-point. McGhee finished with 13 points, Edney accounted for 12 points, three assists and four steals, while Jerome Beasley (Sioux Falls-CBA/North Dakota '03) added 11 points.

"I've got a lot of confidence in my 3-point shot, but I need to start putting the ball on the floor a little more. I might have looked for the three a little too much, but when it's falling, it's falling and it can open a lot of things for my teammates," said Bell. "This is going to be just a matter of everybody getting use to everybody. We practiced for five days and that really isn't enough to get to know each other. We had a long traveling yesterday and I think a lot of guys didn't have their legs and look kind of tired and tomorrow I think we'll be a lot better out there."

Canada's effort was led by Massiah, who finished with 16 points, while Denham Brown added 14.

The U.S. finished the night making just 40.3 percent (29-72 FGs) of it shots, while Canada helped it cause by shooting 47.1 percent overall, including 13-of-30 shooting from 3-point. Canada also outrebounded the US by a 45-31 margin.

The 13 finalists currently with the USA Team hope to earn one of the final 12 roster spots on the 2005 USA Basketball World Championship Qualifying squad. The USA team will compete in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, in the FIBA Americas Men's World Championship Qualifying Tournament. The top four finishing teams (in addition to Argentina who has already qualified by virtue of winning the 2004 Olympics) will earn their nation a qualifying berth in the 2006 FIBA World Championship that is being held in Japan.

Following completion of the tournament, the U.S. will remain in Brazil for additional training and two exhibition games against Brazil. The USA and Brazil will play exhibition games on Aug. 14 in São Paulo, Brazil, and the second exhibition is scheduled for Aug. 16 in Brusque, Brazil. The USA squad will then return to Miami and train at the Miami Heat practice facility Aug. 19-21, then travel Aug. 22 to the Dominican Republic for its final training and the Aug. 24-Sept. 4 competition.

2005 FIBA Americas World Championship Qualifier

McHone, a former USA Basketball and CBA head coach, is head coach of USA Basketball's 2005 Men's World Championship Qualifying Team. Assisting him are former NBA great Dennis "DJ" Johnson, head coach of the NBA Development League Florida Flame, and Joey Meyer (Tulsa 66ers), who as head coach led the NBA Development League Asheville Altitude to league championships in 2004 and 2005.

A total of 10 men's teams from North, South and Central Americas and the Caribbean will participate in the 2005 FIBA Americas World Championship Qualifying Tournament and the top four finishing teams, and Argentina which already qualified for the ‘06 Worlds by winning the 2004 Olympics, will earn a coveted qualification spot for the 2006 World Championship that will be held in Japan, Aug. 19-Sept. 3, 2006.

In FIBA Americas Olympic or World Championship qualifying events held since 1989. Currently owning a 28-game winning streak in FIBA Americas Olympic or World Championship Qualifying tournaments, USA Basketball men's teams are 46-4 and have won gold in five of the six Tournament of the Americas it has sent teams to.