BARRANQUILLA, COLOMBIA — USA Basketball is on the verge of qualifying for next year’s World Cup.
John Jenkins scored 26 points as the US beat Columbia 95-77 in Monday night’s second round of qualifying. The victory will help the USA qualify for the World Cup, which will be held in mid-November with the next games in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia a year later.
With Langston Galloway and DaQuan Jeffries scoring 14 points each, the US gave up the first basket of the game to take the next 12 points and never trail again.
“It’s big time for us to get this win,” said Jenkins. “We are very excited.”
Jenkins has been great in the USA’s two-game window, including the USA’s 105-71 victory over Uruguay in Las Vegas on Thursday. His numbers in those games: 48 points on 17-for-25 shooting – 21-for-14 from a staggering 3-point range.
He was 8 of 14 from across the Ark on Monday. His last three of those three came in the final minutes of the fourth as the US pulled away.
“His leadership has been the biggest part of this,” said US coach Jim Boylen. “He loves playing on the street. He loves playing in hostile places.” And he’s in great shape.He came in great shape.He believes in USA Basketball.He believes in what we’re doing.He’s elite in following the game plan.He’s A veteran who enjoys wearing that USA uniform.”
Losing the United States from the World Cup would be nothing short of a total collapse. The American will be in a group of six teams in this qualifying round, with the top three teams in the group guaranteed a spot on his 32-nation field next year.
The USA is 7-1, two games ahead of Group F’s Brazil, Mexico and Uruguay (all 5-3). Puerto Rico is 4-4 and Colombia is her 3-5. Each team has four qualifying matches left.
Two end-of-quarter spikes proved significant for the U.S.
The USA beat Columbia 8-2 in the final minute of the second quarter to take a seven-point lead to a 45-32 lead. And in his third, he ended the period with a 14-6 run, opening his final ten minutes of play with the United States gaining her 70-50 lead.
“We just kept going, we kept fighting, we kept playing and the shots started dropping,” Jenkins said.
tip in
USA: In two games during this qualifier period, the USA drew with 2:22 out of 80 minutes possible. His other matchup is Thursday’s 105-71 victory over Uruguay in Las Vegas. … The Americans have won their last 6 qualifiers by an average margin of 20.3 points. …Eric Mika had a team-high seven points and nine rebounds.
Colombia: Braian Angola scored a team-leading 18 points. … the hosts outscored him 51-12 from his 3-point range.
Other games
In Monday’s other Group F qualifying matches, Mexico beat Brazil 82-72 and Uruguay defeated Puerto Rico 78-70.
In Group E, another six-team group for the FIBA Americas Regional Qualifier, Canada take the lead. The Canadians beat Panama 106-50 on Monday night. Venezuela beat the Dominican Republic 76-72 and Argentina beat the Bahamas 95-77.
Canada is 8-0, Venezuela is 7-1, and Argentina is 6-2. The Dominican Republic is 5-3, while Panama and the Bahamas are 2-6.
field update
In addition to the Philippines and Japan qualifying as host nations, several spots on the 32-team World Cup field were recently decided.Finland, Lebanon, Ivory Coast and New Zealand will also be selected next year by FIBA, the governing body of basketball. announced that it will officially participate in the tournament.
next
USA: Host Brazil on November 11th. The site is undecided.
Colombia: Puerto Rico on November 11th.
