Auckland, New Zealand • July 2-12, 2009

The 18-year drought between FIBA U19 World Championships titles ended for the United States men as University of Pittsburgh head coach Jamie Dixon guided the 2009 USA Men's U19 World Championship Team to a flawless 9-0 record and gold medal finish in Auckland, New Zealand.

"We really set as a goal to win the gold medal. We also made it very clear that we hadn't won this since 1991.We talked about that, and we used that as motivation throughout the month we've been together, and I think it was really an important part of our work ethic and what we did. We did a great job of committing to one another for a month, and I thought it was just great. We had great kids that worked all the way through and committed to getting the gold medal and gave up, sacrificed individual glory," said Dixon.

Despite an early 10 a.m. tip off and a chilly arena, the USA quickly warmed to the task and demonstrated a balanced effort on both ends of the court that resulted in a 106-55 victory over Iran in the opening game of the tournament. Featuring 10 of the team's 12 players scoring between seven and a team-best 13 points, Tyshawn Taylor led the way with 13 points. The Americans, behind 13 points from Seth Curry, posted an impressive 71-55 victory over France on July 3, and closed the first round with a 112-55 win over Egypt on July 4 that saw Ashton Gibbs pour in 18 points.

The USA opened the second round impressively as Howard Thompkins scored a game best 22 points on 10-of-14 shooting to power the USA to an inspired 85-69 victory over Greece on July 6. On an off shooting night, the USA relied on its usual balanced offensive effort for point production and turned to a defensive performance that allowed just two field goals in the final 13 minutes of the first half to capture a fifth-straight win with a 82-61 victory over Puerto Rico. Thompkins for the second-straight night led the USA's scoring, compiling 14 points and adding a team-best nine rebounds and one blocked shot in 18 minutes of action. Facing a Lithuanian team that was fighting for its medal-round hopes, the U.S. battled for 40 minutes and, behind 13 points by Taylor and some critical defensive stops in the closing minutes, earned a 76-69 win to improve to 6-0.

Setting USA U19 single-game records for 3-point field goals made and 3-point shooting percentage, the USA, behind a 14-for-26 3-point shooting barrage, rolled over Canada 93-73 in quarterfinals action. Gordon Hayward finished with 20 points on 4-of-5 3-point shooting, Thompkins contributed 12 points and Curry tallied 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting from beyond the 3-point line.

Making a collection of critical plays in the closing minutes, the U.S. fought off Croatia and earned a hard earned an 81-77 semifinals win over Croatia on July 11. Gordon led the way with a USA-best 15 points and added eight rebounds, while American guard Gibbs and Curry accounted for 11 points each and White netted 10 more points..

The USA met Greece in the gold medal game. After playing to a 19-19 tie after the first quarter, the USA mounted an 16-1 offensive onslaught over the course of the second quarter's first five minutes to take charge 35-20. The U.S. led 46-30 at half, but Greece stormed back in the third to cut the lead to 53-48. That was as close as they would get, as the U.S. regained control and earned the win. Taylor, who along with Hayward was named to the five-member all-tournament team, tallied 18 points and added six assists and five steals. Gibbs recorded 13 points, while Klay Thompson tossed in 10 points and Arnett Moultrie finished with 10 points to go with a team-best nine rebounds.

Croatia captured the bronze medal after earning an 87-81 victory over Australia.

2009 USA MEN'S U19 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM  ROSTER

2009 USA MEN'S U19 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM CUMULATIVE STATISTICS