TORONTO — Yago dos Santos drilled a pull-up three-pointer with seven seconds to play to give Brazil a 73-71 victory against the United States at the men’s GLOBL JAM tournament Thursday.
The diminutive Brazilian point guard finished Thursday’s contest at Mattamy Athletic Centre with 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting, with no shot being bigger than what proved to be the game-winner.
“The U.S. was changing every screen, so we knew that at some point we had to play one-on-one because we couldn’t get an advantage with the pick-and-roll or the pick-and-pop,” said Brazil head coach Tiago Splitter, a former seven-year NBA player, after the game. “Yago has been part of moments like this his whole career and, like I told him, ‘Take the ball and do your magic.’ “
GLOBL JAM is a first-of-its-kind under-23 international basketball tournament hosted by Canada Basketball. Participating countries in the men’s tournament include the host Canadians, Brazil, Italy and the United States.
Keyonte George led the U.S. with 14 points, but once again struggled from the field, going 4-for-14.
The incoming McDonald’s All-American, five-star recruit Baylor freshman had a chance to win the game for the U.S., but looked to be prevented from doing so because of some end-of-game controversy.
Entering the fourth quarter, the United States carried a 57-53 lead, buoyed by a 13-9 spurt to end the third quarter that started with George converting a pair of technicals after Brazilian big man Dikembe Andre appeared to accidentally step over the U.S. guard with 4:21 to go. The step-over lead to the initial technical call, but the Brazilan bench earned another as they vehemently argued with the officials.
In the final period, however, the U.S. lead evaporated. A 7-0 Brazilian run with 3:30 left to play evened up the game at 67-67, but then Jordan Turner gave the Americans back a two-point cushion, with a pair of free throws after he was fouled on a dunk attempt with 1:38 remaining.
Dos Santos managed to cut the U.S. lead to one (71-70) with 44 seconds remaining and — after Joao Marcello Pereira blocked a layup attempt by George — the Brazilian guard rattled home what proved to be the game-winning three-pointer from the top of the key.
The controversy came on the ensuing possession: George appeared to be fouled on a three-point attempt in the right corner by dos Santos, but it was ruled a clean block, leaving the U.S. with only one second left to get up another desperation three-pointer attempt, which they failed to convert.
“Coaches just want consistency,” said U.S. coach Scott Drew. “On the play before, (dos Santos) goes to the free-throw line and as a coach you tell your guys to do the same thing. Give credit to their point guard, for hitting a big shot. Keyonte played great defence and with him getting to the rim, he still had to make it and get the and-one. So, he’s a great player and we knew that coming in.”
With the victory, Brazil improved to 2-1 heading into Saturday’s semifinal, while the U.S. — which is actually more just the NCAA’s Baylor team rather than a true national team — dropped to 0-3 heading into the knockout stage of the tournament.
It’s been a painful process so far, with the Americans falling late in their last two contests against Canada and Brazil (the U.S. led by as much as 11 midway through the fourth quarter Thursday) but Drew believes his team has been growing from it.
“All-around, there’s been a lot more cohesiveness, a lot better defence, a lot better effort, a lot better feel for each other,” said Drew, despite the winless record so far.
The U.S. carried a 38-35 lead into the halftime break as neither team shot the ball particularly well in the first half. Brazil managed to make just 40.6 per cent of its field-goal attempts, while the Americans managed to make just one-third of theirs.
The contest, as a whole, was a more grinding affair with neither team giving up much space in the paint, something that suited Brazil just fine.
“We play hard,” said Splitter. “That’s our identity. We play hard.”
As the tournament shifts to the semifinals and finals on the weekend, there’s a chance Brazil will be without sharpshooter Reynan Dos Santos (no relation to Yago) after he appeared to split his lip when fouled hard late in the third quarter.
“We’ll see how he feels,” said Splitter. “We’ll see how he is tomorrow and then make a decision, but, of course, first is his health and his security.”