Perry, USA Basketball Win FIBA U19 Gold Medal Game

HERAKLION, Greece — Mississippi State forward Reggie Perry scored 10 points and added four rebounds to help USA Basketball take down Mali, 93-79, to win the FIBA U19 World Cup Championship.

USA Basketball claimed its seventh FIBA U19 World Cup title since the event was first contested in 1979. No other country has more than one FIBA U19 championship.

In the gold-medal game, Perry was 4-of-12 from the floor. For the week he averaged 13.1 points, 3.3 assists and 7.9 rebounds per game on 50% shooting to earn tournament Most Valuable Player. He was also named to the All-Star 5 Team for his efforts,

Mali jumped out to an 11-3 lead to begin the game. USA would cut into the deficit, but poor shooting in the first quarter paved the way for a 22-20 lead for Mali at the end of one quarter.

The USA trailed Mali for much of the second quarter but worked its way back to tie the game at 33-33 with 4:34 to go when Villanova’s Jeremiah Robinson-Earl made a layup. USA headed into the locker rooms with a 42-40 lead.

The USA opened the second half with a 12-0 run that became part of a 17-2 stretch to give USA a 59-42 lead at the 5:42 mark. USA led 73-55 after three quarters.

Mali outscored the USA 22-11 in the final quarter and made it an 84-77 game at the 4:11 mark, but the USA held on strong and went on to win 93-79.

Congrats Reggie and Team USA!