USA Basketball Qualifies for this summer’s FIBA World Cup after defeating Uruguay 88-77
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USA qualifies for this summer’s Basketball World Cup with one game to spare after defeating Uruguay 88-77, with Langston Galloway leading with 21 points
USA Basketball is heading to the FIBA World Cup this summer. The Americans clinched their place in the 32-team field on Thursday night, coming back from behind for an 88-77 victory in Uruguay.
The United States secured one of the seven World Cup berths allocated to the FIBA Americas region.
Langston Galloway, who played in more qualifying games than any American player this cycle, took over down the stretch. He scored 11 straight points in the fourth quarter for the Americans, part of which was a personal 8-0 run that included a four-point play, to help clinch the game and the World Cup spot.
Galloway scored 21 points for the USA, which plays its qualifying final in Brazil on Sunday. The Americans will be in Manila throughout the World Cup; Other games will be played in Indonesia and Japan, but FIBA has already decided that the USA would stay in the Philippines for the tournament.
Langston Galloway of the USA dribbles past Martin Rojas of Uruguay during their FIBA Qualifier
For the Americans, the shutdown capped a 15-month process, spanning 11 games, with six different rosters and using 52 different players. It’s virtually certain that none of those players will be in the Philippines with the Americans this summer for the World Cup; G League or international players were primarily used in the rankings, but a roster of NBA players will be created for the tournament.
The coaching staff will also be different; Jim Boylen has led the Americans through all six of the two-game qualifying windows, but Gonzaga-USA’s national basketball team coach will lead the team this summer.
The United States has won the World Cup, formerly called the world championship, five times. But the team sent to the most recent World Cup in China in 2019 finished seventh, the worst finish by an American men’s team in a major tournament. The previous worst was sixth at the 2002 world championships.
The Americans bounced back at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, winning gold for the fourth time in a row. And now the next team from the USA, the list is unclear, will be tasked with bringing home the Manila gold.
Uruguay took control early, winning 18-7 after the first quarter and building a 41-27 lead with about a minute left in the first half.
But the American offense came to life in the third, scoring 30 points in that 10-minute period, one more than the Americans had in the first two quarters combined.
It was 59-58 USA going into the fourth, and then Galloway and the Americans got away.
Treveon Grahamde of USA shoots the ball during FIBA Basketball 2023