July 21, 1999
ALMADA, Portugal – Steve Logan and Lance Williams came off the bench combine for 39 points in the 1999 USA Men’s Junior World Championship Team’s 89-71 come-from-behind victory against Brazil (3-2) in Group II quarterfinals play at the FIBA Junior World Championship in Almada, Portugal, Tuesday night. Matt Carroll, who will be a freshman guard at Notre Dame in the fall, went scoreless in one minute of play.
The U.S. closes out the quarterfinals against Russia on Wednesday night at 9:30 p.m. (3:30 p.m. EDT). If the U.S. wins against Russia, it will advance to the medal semifinal rounds at the top of Group II. However, a loss would tie the USA with Brazil and Russia and the fate of the three teams would be determined by point differential, according to International Basketball Federation (FIBA) rules.
Despite scoring the game’s first two points, the United States’ offense sagged in the opening minutes and committed seven of its 15 first half turnovers in less than four minutes, allowing Brazil to run out to a 13-2 lead at 16:23.
The USA closed out the night shooting over 50 percent from the floor for the fourth time in five games with its 51.7 percent (31-60 FGs) from the field, while Brazil shot a respectable 47.3 percent (26-55 FGs) from the field. The United States almost doubled Brazil’s rebounding effort, 40-22, which included 16 offensive boards. After making 15 errors in the first half, the United States only turned the ball over four times in the second half to finish with 19 on the night and its defense forced 21 Brazilian turnovers.