Namur, Belgium; Modena, Italy; Castellon, Spain; Haarlem, Holland; Frankfurt, Germany
June 3-12, 1993

After NBA players became eligible for the Olympic Games and World Championships, the United Sates' top collegiate players were virtually eliminated from competing in FIBA's elite international basketball events. However, USA Basketball created a new international forum for the USA's best returning college players in 1993 and the result was Team USA.

1993 Men's Team USA 1993 USA RESULTS (3-2) USA 99 Belgium 70 USA 79 Italy 70 Spain 85 USA 83 (OT) USA 90 Netherlands 65 Germany 86 USA 85

Team USA, an elite 10-member squad made up of many of the USA's top returning college players, was hosted by five different European national teams from June 3-12 and finished with a 3-2 record, with the two USA losses coming by a total of only three points.

Team USA launched its five-game tour with a 99-70 victory over the Belgium National Team in Namur. Belgium kept the score within one point, 16-15 with 13:04 left in the first half, but Donyell Marshall and James Forrest each accounted for 14 points as the USA ran away with the 29-point, 99-70 opening victory.

Two days later in Modena, Italy, the USA overcame a first half deficit then relied on red-hot second half shooting to hold off two late game surges and beat Italy 79-70. Trailing by as many as 10 points during the first half, the USA managed a slim 56-54 lead by the midway point. The second half was also a close affair, and with 7:15 left and the scored knotted at 62, the U.S. reeled off seven unanswered points over the next 1:50 to claim a 69-62 advantage with 5:25 remaining. Team USA held on to earn the 79-70 win and Marshall finished as the USA's leading scorer with 21 and rebounder with 12.

Now 2-0, Team USA traveled to Castellon, Spain, where victory escaped its grasp as the Spanish National Team sank two free throws with no time left in overtime to score an 85-83 victory. Forced into overtime after a 74-74 tie at the end of regulation, Spain's Jordi Villacampa was fouled in a last second loose ball scuffle and awarded two free throws that he hit with no time remaining on the clock to give Spain the overtime victory. Team USA's lone freshman member, Jason Kidd, turned in a team best 20-point performance for the United States.

After its disappointing loss to Spain two days earlier, Team USA rebounded with a decisive 90-65 drubbing of the Netherlands in Haarlem, Holland. The U.S. struggled to gain the upper hand during the first half, holding only a six-point, 41-35 lead at the half, but employed a pair of offensive runs in the second stanza to secure the 35-point win. Best scored a team high 18 points and the USA's smothering defense limited the Netherlands to just 32.4 percent shooting from the field.

The USA ended its European tour in Frankfurt by dropping a one-point, 86-85 decision to the German National Team, that three weeks later would win the European Championship. The USA and Germany traded leads during the first half and at the midpoint the Americans led by two, 46-44. The second half again saw the two teams trade offensive runs and with 4:09 to play the score was even at 75-all and the stage was set for another heart-pounding finish.

With 18 seconds to play, Germany grabbed an 86-85 advantage and the USA set up for one last shot. Best drove into the lane in the closing seconds and passed to Marshall whose subsequent five-foot shot rolled off the rim, and an attempted tap by Lamond Murray also failed to fall and Germany's Harnisch grabbed the rebound to secure the 86-85 win for Germany as time ran out.

1993 TEAM USA CUMULATIVE STATISTICS