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Second Half Lock Down Lifts USA Senior Men To 110-76 Victory Over Brazil In Olympic Qualifying Tournament Opener

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After struggling with Brazil (0-1) for the game’s first 20 minutes, the USA (1-0) applied the defensive handcuffs in the third quarter to put away Brazil and went on to post a 110-76 win in its opening game at the 2003 FIBA Americas Olympic Qualifying Tournament Wednesday night in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The United States, which now has a 17 game win streak in FIBA Americas Olympic Qualifying games dating back to 1992, will continue preliminary play Thursday against 1-0 Dominican Republic.

Led by identical 17 point, 6 rebound performances by Elton Brand (Los Angeles Clippers) and Tim Duncan (San Antonio Spurs), the USA featured seven players scored in double digits. Duncan made 8-of-10 shots and Brand was good on 6-of-8 tries.

Trailing for much of the first two quarters, the USA following two free throws from Vince Carter (Toronto Raptors) with 3.4 second remaining led 49-47 at halftime.

“He (head coach Larry Brown) told us we needed to play defense, he preached a lot of defense and we wanted to hold them to a certain number (of points). We wanted to adjust to their offensive sets that they were running and I think we did that very well, that’s why we made that run. Defense wins games, that’s what won it for us tonight,” said Brand about USA coach Larry Brown’s speech at halftime.

“I’m proud of my team. Brazil played as well as you could play and we hung in there,” said U.S. mentor Brown. “The second half we won it with defense, we won it with rebounding.”

Trailing for much of the first two quarters, the USA following two free throws from Vince Carter (Toronto Raptors) with 3.4 second remaining led 49-47 at halftime.

The Americans dominated Brazil in the third quarter, outscoring their South American opponents 29-8 to blow open the tight contest.

With Duncan scoring six and Jason Kidd (New Jersey Nets) adding four, the USA mounted a 16-4 run over the third quarter’s opening 5:27 to seize control 65-51. Brazil scored four consecutive points to cut the gap to 10, however, the USA sealed the win by scoring 13 straight points over the final 2:38 of the third quarter to take a 78-55 lead into the fourth quarter.

Brazil led by as many as 10 in the first half, 34-24, with 7:56 to play in the second stanza. Duncan helped pull the U.S. back within striking range, scoring nine points in a span of 1:58, and after Allen Iverson (Philadelphia 76ers) dashed coast-to-coast for a basket, Brazil’s lead was down to two, 37-35.

With Brazil holding a 42-35 lead and 3:11 to go before halftime, Tracy McGrady (Orlando Magic) was good from 3-point range, then Mike Bibby (Sacramento Kings) scored on a layup that came off his steal, and Brand scored the team’s next five points as the U.S. finally moved ahead 45-44. Carter’s bucket off an offensive rebound expanded the lead to 47-44, but Brazil’s Marcelo Magalhaes nailed a 3-pointer to tie the game with 40 seconds remaining. Carter’s two free throws earned the U.S. the 49-47 lead at halftime.

The USA also received 15 points from McGrady, 14 from Carter, 13 from Ray Allen (Seattle SuperSonics), 11 points and 7 assists from Bibby and 10 points Iverson. Brand and Duncan each snagged a team best six boards, while Bibby was credited with team highs of 7 assists and 4 steals.

The United States finished the evening shooting 60.9 percent (39-64 FGs) from the field, including 64.3 percent (9-14 3pt FGs) from 3-point, and Brazil was held to 40.0 percent shooting from the floor while making 9-of-24 3-point attempts. The USA owned a 32-24 advantage on the glass, but made 19 turnovers. Brazil was forced into 25 turnovers

In other opening day action, 2002 World Champion runner-up Argentina (0-1) was stunned by Mexico (1-0) 91-89 as Dallas Maverick Eduardo Najera scored 20 points and made 4-of-6 from 3-point. The Dominican Republic (1-0) watched a 16 point lead evaporate in the fourth quarter but still managed to fend off Venezuela (0-1) 78-76, while host Puerto Rico (1-0) finished strong to earn a 91-78 decision over Uruguay (0-1).

Second day preliminary round action on Thursday sees Uruguay meeting Argentina, Brazil faces the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico goes against Canada, and in the night’s final game, the USA takes on the Dominican Republic.

Ten men's national teams from North, South and Central America are competing in the 2003 FIBA Americas Olympic Qualifying Tournament and the top three finishers will qualify for the 2004 Olympic Games. First Round play takes place Aug. 20-24, then the top four finishing teams from each of the two preliminary round groups will advance to the second ground where they form one group. The second round games are scheduled for Aug. 25-28, each team will play the other four teams they have not previously played. The top four finishers based on overall records will then advance to the Saturday, Aug. 30 semifinals, and the winners of the semifinals games will meet on Sunday, Aug. 31 in the gold medal game, while the losers of Saturday’s semifinals showdowns will square off in the bronze medal game.

USA Basketball has had to qualify for the Olympics through a zone qualifying tournament twice before, 1992 in Portland, Oregon, and 1999 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The Americans in 1992 rolled to a 6-0 record, won the gold medal and earned a qualifying berth in the ‘92 Summer Olympic Games in Barcelona. In 1999, under the direction of Brown, the American squad won 10 games in 11 days to finish 10-0 and in possession of the gold, while earning one of the two Americas Olympic qualifying berths.