U.S. moves on at U-19 basketball worlds

Point guard Seth Curry scored 12 points and 6'8” (203-centimeter) power forward Gordon Hayward had 11 points and five rebounds as the United States stayed top of Group B with one pool match remaining against Egypt on Saturday.

France, which beat Egypt in its opening match, will likely have to beat Iran on Saturday to progress to the second round.

The U.S. led 19-10 at the end of the first quarter and 35-20 at halftime. The physical defense of both sides affected shooting percentages: the United States shot 28 of 70 (40 percent) from the floor and 10 of 37 from three-point range, while France made 17 of 53 (32 percent), from the floor and 5 of 18 three-pointers.

“It was a pretty decisive win, but we could have played better,” U.S. coach Jamie Dixon said. “They're good, they're athletic and we couldn't dominate them inside. We needed to shoot the ball well and we didn't but our defense was pretty good and that was probably the final margin.”

Top-ranked Argentina beat Kazakhstan 98-69, notching its second win and leaving it top of Group D and also likely to reach the second round.

Argentina improved on its tight opening win over hosts New Zealand, although it still took time to suppress a spirited Kazakhstan team which trailed 45-31 at halftime. Luciano Gomez top-scored for Argentina with 16 points while Mathias Nocedal added 14 points.

Ninth-ranked Australia upset third-ranked Spain 69-62 to move to the top of Group C with a 2-0 record, booking its passage to the second round. European champions Spain must now beat Canada on Saturday to have a chance of advancing beyond pool play. Canada, coming off a loss to Australia, moved to second place in the group with a 99-53 win over Syria. African champions Egypt beat Iran 95-91 in the first match at the tournament to go into overtime, after the teams were tied 84-84 at fulltime.

The teams were locked 19-19 at the end of the first quarter but Iran took a 47-38 halftime lead. They edged further ahead with a 20-19 third spell before Egypt came back, outscoring Iran by 10 points in the final period. “If we lost the match we take the first flight out,” Egypt captain Osama Mohammad said. “Our dream is to make a good ranking so we fought with all our efforts to close the score. This group is Egypt and Iran for us. One will reach second round, one will go home.”

Greece topped Group A with a 107-98 win over Puerto Rico, taking the lead with a 31-22 second quarter after trailing at the first break. Kostas Papanikolaou had 25 points and Vlantimir Giankovits 24 for Greece.

Croatia beat hosts New Zealand 79-72 to overtake Argentina at the top of Group D while Lithuania atoned for a first-match loss to Puerto Rico with an easy 104-46 win over Angola.

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