Wuhu, China – An injury depleted NetScouts Basketball USA All-Stars ended their China tour with their fourth straight loss, a tough 92-87 defeat at the hands of China before a tournament high 4,263 fans. The USA only had seven players available for the second straight game. Two of the USA’s players fouled out and two ended he contest with four fouls. The USA finished the tour with a 4-5 record. Lithuania (6-4) defeated Ukraine (5-5) for the Four Nations Tournament title. China finished 3-6.
It was another slow start for the Americans as China pulled out to a five-point lead after the first quarter and a 16-point lead at halftime. The USA played hard and fought back, tying the game on two occasions late in the third and early fourth quarters. The US
A fell behind by eight points late in the fourth quarter and cut the lead to two points on a Markeith Cummings three-pointer but time ran out on the Americans.
Cummings finished with 18 points and had an outstanding tournament in Wuhu. Keion Bell led the USA with 29 points, Jay-R Strowbridge added 18 and Robert Thurman had a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds. Sam Coleman also pulled down 12 rebounds as the USA battled China evenly on the boards. China was slightly more effective on three-pointers, making nine to the USA’s five and shot 35 percent from long-distance to the USA’s 26 percent. The USA was called for five more fouls than China and China had seven more free throw attempts.
USA Head Coach Rod Jensen: “I wish we could have finished the tour with a win, but our guys battled short-handed to the end of the game. It was a solid effort despite the result.”
The team heads home today and will arrive in Los Angeles Tuesday night USA time.
NetScouts Basketball USA All-Stars
Nate Rohnert (Denver) DNP
Jay-R Strowbridge (Oregon) 18 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists
Keion Bell (Pepperdine/Missouri) 29 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals
Jamal Wilson (Rhode Island) DNP
Markeith Cummings
Markeith Cummings (Kennesaw State) 18 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, 1 block
Dominic Cheek (Villanova) DNP
Jeff Powers (California) 3 points, 3 rebounds
Josh Clyburn (Queens)4 points, 3 rebounds
Sam Coleman (Coppin State) 4 points, 12 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals
Robert Thurman (California) 11 points, 12 rebounds, 1 block, 1 assist, 1 steal
Earlier in the day the USA squad visited an elementary school, answered basketball questions and interacted with the chlidren. It was a fun time for all.
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