Power forward Julius Randle of Prestonwood Christian (Plano, Texas) scored 18 points and pulled down 12 rebounds to lead Team USA to a 81-56 defeat of Brazil in the title game of the FIBA Americas U18 Championship in Sao Sebasti
Tennessee sophomore forward Jarnell Stokes added 11 points and four rebounds and Marcus Smart, who will be a freshman guard at Oklahoma State this fall, had 10 points, three rebounds, four assists and six steals.
"I though in the first half they went zone and we got a little stagnant and we turned the ball over way too much," said Florida coach Billy Donovan, who was Team USA's head coach. "We had some opportunities on some fast breaks that we got nothing out of. The one thing we were fortunate in the first half was they were 9-for-19 from the foul line."
Team USA pulled away after leading by only six points in the first half. Team USA averaged 97.2 points in its five games in the tournament, all wins.
"I thought in the second half we got up and down the floor, we were pushing it more; more up tempo, we attacked the basket; we attacked the paint; and I thought our defense was really, really good in the second half," Donovan said. "We took away three-pointers and easy baskets, and that enabled us to get out on the fast break."
It was the USA squad's second win over Brazil in the event. In the teams' final preliminary round game, Team USA took a 83-64 victory.
Randle did most of his damage after halftime, scoring 14 points and getting 11 rebounds after intermission. He opened the second half with a jumper that pushed the lead to 39-31.
"We weren't really playing our game in the first half so I just wanted to lock in and bring energy to the team, bring leadership to the team, and in the second half I just really wanted to focus in and be aggressive on both ends and on the defensive and offensive glass," Randle said.
