NCAA Basketball Recruiting: Kansas signee Quentin Grimes leads USA Basketball in FIBA Americas
FIBA Americas U18 quarterfinals.
The FIBA Americas U18 tournament will reconvene on June 14. Following a new format, all eight teams will participate in the quarterfinals. The US will play Ecuador (0-3) at 6 p.m. (ET) on Thursday.
Team USA has topped the century mark in each of the first three games. The red, white and blue leads the tournament in scoring, scoring defense and scoring margin. US is averaging 112.7 points while giving up just 56.7 points for an incredible +56.0 margin.
USA is shooting 52.4% from the field as well as 37.5% on 3-point attempts. The Americans own a 54.7-to-38.7 rebound advantage. Defensively, they are limiting opponents to 29.3% shooting from the field and 21.3% from beyond the arc while also forcing 24 turnovers a game.
The US opened the tournament with a 105-73 victory over the Dominican Republic. The Americans also defeated Panama 118-26 after scoring the first 45 points of the game.
Anthony, who has scored in double figures in all three games thus far, leads the team in scoring at 15.3 a game. White, Grimes, Maxey and Hurt are also scoring in double figures. Robinson-Earl is hauling in 9.7 boards a contest while Kameka Hepa (6.3), Armando Bacot (6.0) and Hurt (6.0) are pulling down at least six a game.
Ecuador finished in last place in Group B. Ecuador opened up the tournament with a 74-62 lost to Chile. The Ecuadorians led 41-34 at halftime. But they managed just nine points in the third and 12 in the fourth.
Ecuador was blown out by Canada (115-75) in Game 2. Then in Game 3 versus Argentina, Ecuador was in the game for a while. However, they ended up suffering a 82-61 set back after being outscored by 19 in the second half.
Ecuador ranks near the bottom in all categories. The Ecuadorians rank seventh in scoring (66.0), seventh in scoring defense (90.3) and seventh in scoring margin (-24.3). They are shooting 34.1% from the field and 32.8% (19 of 58) from beyond the arc. Defensively, they are allowing opponents to shoot 44.9% from the field and have been outrebounded by an average of 20 a game.
Michael Moncayo leads three players in double figures for Ecuador with 19.7 points a game. Moncayo, who poured in 27 points against Chile, is shooting 41.7% from the field and 35.7% on 3-pointers (10 of 28). Edward Sanchez went for 26 against Canada and is averaging 17.2 points a game. In the meantime, Aaron Capurro picked up a double-double (12 points and 10 rebounds) against Argentina. Capurro is averaging 11.3 points along with 8.7 caroms a game.
The other three quarterfinals games are Dominican Republic (1-2) versus Argentina (2-1), Puerto Rico vs. Chile (1-2) and Canada (3-0) versus Panama (0-3). If the US wins, they will face either the DR or Argentina in the semifinals.
The top-four teams qualify for the FIBA U19 2019 World Cup.
The US is 57-2 lifetime in the FIBA Americas U18 Tournament. USA has captured eight golds and two bronzes in 10 tournaments. Which includes winning golds in the last four tournaments.