Patric Young (Jacksonville, Fla.) and USA Basketball have advanced through the preliminary round of the FIBA U19 World Championships in Latvia after sweeping three games in the group stage on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The USA is the only team that swept its preliminary games and will face Canada, Lithuania and Croatia in the second round of competition.
The Americans’ opening game on Thursday resulted in a 115-60 victory over Egypt, with Young posting five points and eight rebounds. Young went a perfect 6-for-6 from the floor in Friday’s closely-fought 80-78 victory over Serbia, and the Gator finished with 13 points and seven rebounds. With its place in the second round already clinched, the USA completed its opening-round sweep with an 82-66 win over China, as Young scored four points and grabbed another eight rebounds.
The top three finishing teams from each preliminary round pool advanced to the second round in Riga, Latvia, and form two groups of six teams. Each team will play games against the three teams has not already faced in preliminary play. The USA will compete in Group F, which also includes Croatia, Lithuania, Serbia, Canada and Egypt. The top four teams in each group move on to the quarterfinals, which marks the beginning of the knockout stage. Group E consists of Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Latvia, Poland and Russia, all of whom went 2-1 in preliminaries.
USA Second Round Schedule
All games at 7:30 a.m. Eastern
Monday, July 4 – USA vs. Canada
Tuesday, July 5 – USA vs. Lithuania
Wednesday, July 6 – USA vs. Croatia
