San Antonio, Texas • April 4, 2004

Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) All-American guard Josh Smith scored 15 of his game high 27 points in the first half as the USA Basketball Men's Junior National Select Team rolled to a convincing 99-79 victory over a World Select Team in the 7th Hoop Summit Presented By Nike in San Antonio, Texas on April 4. The Hoop Summit, featuring Americas' top senior boy high school players taking on a World Select Team comprised of the world's top players who are 19-years-old or younger, is played under international rules.

"Defensively, our guys really got after it. They wanted to win the game and the biggest difference between the two teams was that our guys really got after it," said victorious USA head coach Boo Williams. "The turning point in the game was when we put Daniel Gibson and Malik Hairston in the game. With Daniel and Malik coming off the bench, defending and playing hard, I think that was really when the game turned.

"When we first got the team together, we wanted them to be sure to know that this was not an all-star game,' continued the United States mentor. 'We wanted them to understand that this was a game and we were going to play it like a game and coach it like a game and they responded to it."

The World squad jumped the American team early in the game and moved out ahead 8-4 and 10-6. Tied at 15 with 1:31 left in the first quarter, Rudy Gay (Archbishop Spalding / Severn, Md.) drained a 3-pointer with 41 seconds to play, then followed it up with another basket with 10 seconds left to push the U.S. ahead 20-15. However, the World team's Sergio Rodriquez connected from beyond the 3-point line at the buzzer to cut the deficit to 20-18.

Behind Josh Smith's eight points, six off of a pair of 3-pointers, the USA opened the second quarter with a 12-2 run to grab control 32-20. The World Team crawled back and with 22 seconds remaining before half, cut the lead to 44-40 following a 3-pointer from Croatian Roko Ukic.

But with two ticks left on the clock before halftime, guard Sebastian Telfair (Abraham Lincoln High School / Brooklyn, N.Y.) nailed his only shot of the game, a 3-pointer, and the Americans retired to the locker room at intermission up 47-40.

The U.S. dominated the scoring in the third quarter's first five minutes, outscoring the World Team 16-5 to take charge 63-45.

Owning a 74-62 lead after three quarters, the USA's advantage never fell below 10 as the Americans cruised in for the win.

All 10 healthy USA players scored, including four in double figures. Josh Smith led the offense with 27 points on 12-of-18 shooting and his 12 made field goals set a new single game USA Hoop Summit record, improving on Zach Randolph's previous mark of 11 set in 2000.

"After the first couple of shots fell I was really relaxed and I played my game," said Josh Smith, a 6-9 forward. "This as an enjoyable experience, especially for us to play such team ball. This is the first time I've seen some of the top guys get together and learn how to pass the ball and be a team."

J.R. Smith (St. Benedict's Prep School / Newark, N.J.) added 17 points in the win, while Gay and Al Jefferson (Prentiss High School / Prentiss, Miss.) were credited with 14 and 13 points respectively. Telfair recorded a game high seven assists, tying the USA Hoop Summit single game record in the process.

Although the U.S. was outrebounded 43-40, the Americans had 22 offensive rebounds compared to 16 for the World squad, and the USA outscored the World team 48 to 24 in the paint. Jefferson led the USA's rebounding effort with seven, while Josh Smith added six and Mike Williams (Wilcox Central High School / Camden, Ala.) and Daniel Gibson (Jones H.S./Houston, Texas), each grabbed five rebounds.

With the win, the USA now owns a 5-2 series lead in the Hoop Summit and has won three consecutive Hoop Summits (2004, 2000, 1999).

2004 USA BASKETBALL MEN'S JUNIOR NATIONAL SELECT TEAM ROSTER

2004 Hoop Summit Box Score

Officials: Eric Peterson, Pat Rosanow

Attendance: 4,270