COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (Sept. 29, 2023) – The 2023 FIBA 3x3 U23 World Cup continued for the United States Friday morning in Lublin, Poland. The men swept their pool and earned a spot in Sunday’s quarterfinals, while the women saw their tournament conclude after finishing 2-2 in pool play.
After easily winning their first two Pool D games Wednesday, the U.S. men cruised to another pair of victories Friday to close group play with a perfect 4-0 record and secured a spot in Sunday’s quarterfinals, where they will face Romania. Should the USA advance, the semifinals and finals will also be Sunday.
The USA, who won four pool games by an average of 7.3 points a game, secured victories Friday over Egypt and Lithuania.
In the 21-11 rout of Egypt, the Americans maintained control from the outset until reaching the final tally with 2:58 still showing on the game clock. The U.S. jumped out early, scoring the first three points, and never looked back. Jalen Lecque and Trey McGowens III led the squad with seven points each, including two each at the free throw line, while Matthew Hurt and Bryce Wills added four and three points, respectively.
The second tilt of the day saw the U.S. face Lithuania and featured McGowens’ breakout game of the tournament. The red, white and blue captured a 21-16 win behind 13 points from McGowens, who plays for the NBA G League Long Island Nets. While the U.S. conceded the first point, they took the lead for good 1:01 into the game and never looked back.
McGowens started out hot, scoring the USA’s first seven points in the first 90 seconds of play, including hitting two of his three total 2-pointers in that span. He added four 1-pointers and four free throws in the marquee performance. In four games, McGowens averages 7.5 points, second among all men’s players.
The quarterfinal match against Romania, the second-seeded team from Pool B, is set for 6:25 a.m. ET Sunday and will stream live on FIBA 3x3’s YouTube.
The American women started the day with a heartbreaking 21-19 loss to the short-handed Netherlands, who played with three players. The loss meant that the U.S. couldn’t advance past pool play with both China and Netherlands recording better records to move on.
The USA opened play with a 4-0 run and led by as many as five, including a 9-4 edge, in the first three minutes. However, Netherlands regrouped to put together a 9-2 run to gain a 13-11 lead with 4:16 to play. The lead would balloon to seven, 19-12, in favor of Netherlands before the Americans responded to trail 18-19 with 1:13 to go. The U.S. couldn’t quite get over the hump, committing a foul seconds later to give the opposition two free throws and conceding the final 1-point shot with 34 seconds to go.
Zia Cooke had an exceptional game offensively, scoring a game-best 11 points, including hitting a pair of 2s. Dazia Lawrence added five points.
To close their tournament, the USA got back on track with a decisive 21-12 win over Kenya. The Americans were hot from 2-point range, hitting four shots from beyond the arc. Dyaisha Fair led her squad with eight points, including a pair of 2-pointers. Cooke had a second strong offensive effort with seven points, while Aquira DeCosta added five in the balanced effort.