Rutgers guard Mike Rosario dropped a career-high 54 points to carry Puerto Rico to a 90-89 victory over France in the FIBA U19 World Championship in New Zealand.
Rosario had 13 after one quarter, 28 at the half, 37 after three quarters and scored 17 fourth-quarter points to carry his team back after France had taken an 83-76 lead with 3:20 remaining in the game.
“I knew today was do or die for us,” said Rosario, whose team plays the U.S. on Tuesday. “That was a team we played in France and they beat us by one at the Douai Tournament, and I just knew that this game meant so much to me, my country and my teammates.
“I just told coach that I was going to go out and give it everything I had, and I went out there and I prayed last night, and I prayed before the game and everything went right for me today. I am just so happy.”
Trailing by 11 at the half, the French made their move late in the third quarter, finishing the quarter on a 14-2 run to tie the scores at 63-63.
The last quarter was a classic, with France hitting five three pointers to establish their 7 point lead. But Rosario came back to life to hit three baskets, including a two pointer to tie the score at 89-89 with 40 seconds to play.
Andrew Albicy (28 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steal) was outstanding for France all night, but missed an open three point shot to win the game with three seconds to play. Raymond Cintron grabbed the rebound and rushed down the court, finding Kevin Young under the basket, who was fouled with 0.6 seconds remaining.
Young missed the first but made the second and, fittingly, Rosario stole the inbounds pass to secure an incredible win for his country.
Puerto Rico’s three wins may be enough to qualify them for the quarter finals, but a win in their remaining games against the USA and Egypt will make it a certainty.
With two wins on the board, France must win at least one of their games against Lithuania and Greece to move on to the knockout round.
USA DOWNS GREECE
Georgia forward Howard Thompkins scored 22 points on 10 of 14 shooting to lead the USA over Greece 85-69.
“I decided today that I was going to be very, very aggressive” Thompkins said. “I heard that Greece like to bump and bang, I decided I was going to be the guy to initiate it first.
“Greece, they move the ball well, they play as a team. It seems like they use ball screens a lot, and they know how to penetrate and dish and they know how to create. They’re a good team and it wouldn’t surprise me if we saw them again.”
Gordon Howard had 9 points and 5 rebounds and John Shurna, Tyshawn Taylor, Seth Curry and Ashton Gibbs scored 8 points apiece.
LEBRON JAMES HIGH SCHOOL & COLLEGE ROSTER OUT
COLLEGE:- Cole Aldrich (Kansas)
- Jeff Allen (Virginia Tech)
- Al-Farouq Aminu (Wake Forest)
- Patrick Christopher (California)
- Dwayne Collins (Miami)
- Jordan Crawford (Xavier)
- Malcolm Delaney (Virginia Tech)
- Devin Ebanks (West Virginia)
- Yancy Gates (Cincinnati)
- Manny Harris (Michigan)
- Jerome Jordan (Tulsa)
- Kalin Lucas (Michigan State)
- Larry Sanders (VCU)
- Iman Shumpert (Georgia Tech)
- DeShawn Sims (Michigan)
- Kyle Singler (Duke)
- Edwin Ubiles (Siena)
- Greivis Vasquez (Maryland)
- Willie Warren (Oklahoma)
- Chris Wright (Dayton)
59 Justin Anderson 6-4 208 82 ½ 2012 Montrose/Rockville, MD
55 Harrison Barnes 6-8 209 84 ½ 2010 Ames/Ames, IA
31 Will Barton 6-6 161 81 ½ 2010 Lake Clifton/Baltimore, MD
32 Daniel Bejarano 6-3 ½ 204 77 2010 North/Phoenix, AZ
33 James Bell 6-5 ½ 217 80 ½ 2010 Montverde/Orlando, FL
56 Wayne Blackshear 6-5 205 82 ½ 2011 Morgan Park/Chicago, IL
8 Jamal Branch 6-3 163 75 ½ 2011 Atascocita/Humble, TX
18 Taran Buie 6-1 ½ 172 76 ½ 2010 Bishop Maginn/Albany, NY
57 Reggie Bullock 6-5 ½ 190 80 ½ 2010 Kinston/Kinston, NC
26 Russell Byrd 6-7 189 79 2010 Blackhawk Christian/Fort Wayne, IN
47 Travis Carroll 6-9 219 80.5 2010 Danville/Danville, IN
48 Rakeem Christmas 6-9 222 88.5 2011 North Catholic/Philadelphia, PA
79 Cameron Clark 6-6 184 78 2010 Sherman/Sherman, TX
94 DaJuan Coleman 6-8 281 85.5 2012 Jamesville-DeWitt/Syracuse, NY
34 Gerard Coleman 6-5 168 81 ½ 2010 Tilton/Boston, MA
35 Trevor Cooney 6-4 185 75 2011 Sanford/Wilmington, DE
36 Andre Dawkins 6-4 ½ 196 80 2010 Atlantic Shores/Chesapeake, VA
43 Perry Ellis 6-7 206 78 2012 Wichita Heights/Wichita, KS
4 Isaiah Epps 6-1 ½ 159 74 ½ 2010 Plainfield/Plainfield, NJ
27 CJ Fair 6-7 196 77 2010 Baltimore City College/Baltimore, MD
67 Dominique Ferguson 6-8 209 87 2010 Morris/Indianapolis, IN
21 Gary Franklin, Jr. 6-2 183 74 ½ 2010 Mater Dei/Santa Ana, CA
53 Michael Gbinije 6-6 194 75 2011 Benedictine/Chester, PA
49 Malcolm Gilbert 6-11 214 88 2011 Academy of New Church/Smyrna, DE
78 Michael Gilchrist 6-6 216 84 ½ 2011 St. Patrick’s/Elizabeth, NJ
3 Aliun Guo 6-3 ½ 170 76 ½ N/A Liaoning, China
51 Tobias Harris 6-8 210 83 2010 Half Hollow Hills West/Dix Hill, NY
17 Crandall Head 6-3 186 80 2010 Crane/Chicago, IL
5 Kyrie Irving 6-2 172 75 ½ 2010 St. Patrick’s/West Orange, NJ
No. Name Hgt. Wgt. Wingspan Class High School/Hometown
72 James Johnson 6-9 ½ 212 84 2010 Samuel Morse/Mildomar, CA
80 Kevin Johnson 6-8 ½ 250 84 2011 Junipero Serra/Gardena, CA
12 Nick Johnson 6-3 185 77 2011 Highland/Gilbert, AZ
54 Jamail Jones 6-6 200 78 2010 Greenforest Christian/Stone Mtn., GA
91 Perry Jones 6-10 ½ 220 86.5 2010 Duncanville/Duncanville, TX
58 Terrence Jones 6-8 219 84 2010 Jefferson/Portland, OR
20 Myck Kabongo 6-2 160 78 ½ 2011 St. Benedict’s/Newark, NJ
29 Jelan Kendrick 6-6 ½ 186 81 ½ 2010 Westlake/College Park, GA
81 Markus Kennedy 6-8 ½ 268 83 2010 Living Faith Christian/Philadelphia, PA
28 Keala King 6-5 ½ 180 76 ½ 2010 Dominguez/Los Angeles, CA
73 Alex Kirk 6-9 ½ 226 87 2010 Los Alamos/Los Alamos, NM
37 Trevor Lacey 6-1 ½ 187 77 2011 Butler/Huntsville, AL
38 Doron Lamb 6-3 ½ 183 78 2010 Oak Hill/Laurelton, NY
74 Meyers Leonard 7-0 215 87 2010 Robinson/Robinson, IL
52 CJ Leslie 6-8 205 84 2010 Word of God Academy/Raleigh, NC
22 Kendall Marshall 6-4 180 76 ½ 2010 Bishop O’Connell/Dumfries, VA
11 Ray McCallum 6-0 ½ 179 73 ½ 2010 Detroit Ctry Day/Beverly Hills, MI
68 Tony Mitchell 6-7 215 86 2010 Living Faith Christian/Grand Prairie, TX
46 Moses Morgan 6-5 208 81 2010 Palo Verde/Las Vegas, NV
9 Jason Morris 6-4 204 81 2010 Hotchkiss/Lakeville, CT
76 Johnny O’Bryant 6-8 218 86 2011 East Side/Cleveland, MS
93 Adreian Payne 6-9 215 84 2010 Jefferson/Dayton, OH
50 Dwight Powell 6-10 212 84 2010 IMG Academy/Melrose, MA
2 Phil Pressey 5-11 162 73 2010 Episcopal School/Dallas, TX
70 Jereme Richmond 6-7 195 79 2010 Waukegan/Waukegan, IL
15 Austin Rivers 6-4 189 79 2011 Winter Park/Winter Park, FL
16 Josh Selby 6-3 183 76 2010 Lake Clifton/Baltimore, MD
71 Mike Shaw 6-8 208 78 2011 De La Salle/Chicago, IL
13 Reggie Smith 6-1 175 76 2010 Thornton Township/Harvey, IL
60 Roscoe Smith 6-7 ½ 184 85 2010 Oak Hill/Mouth of Wilson, VA
44 Evan Smotrycz 6-9 212 77 2010 New Hampton/Reading, MA
19 Ahmad Starks 5-6 163 71 ½ 2010 Whitney Young/Chicago, IL
14 Juwan Staten 5-10 ½ 169 74 2010 Thurgood Marshall/Dayton, OH
7 Andre Stringer 5-9 ½ 166 71 2010 Forest Hill/Jackson, MS
92 Jared Sullinger 6-9 262 83.5 2010 Northland/Columbus, OH
6 Marquis Teague 6-2 165 79 2011 Pike/Indianapolis, IN
No. Name Hgt. Wgt. Wingspan Class High School/Hometown
40 JT Terrell 6-3 165 81 2010 Cummings/Burlington, NC
61 Adonis Thomas 6-5 204 84 2011 Melrose/Memphis, TN
45 DeShaun Thomas 6-7 221 80 2010 Bishop Luers/Fort Wayne, IN
62 Bakari Turner 6-3 ½ 177 77 2010 Plano West/Plano, TX
41 Ralston Turner 6-5 ½ 193 77 2010 Muscle Shoals/Muscle Shoals, AL
30 Dion Waiters 6-3 ½ 201 78 ½ 2010 Life Center/Philadelphia, PA
75 Okaro White 6-8 180 83 2010 Clearwater/Clearwater, FL
64 Frank Williams 6-5 151 79 2010 Raytown/Raytown, MO
63 Kyle Wiltjer 6-8 221 82 ½ 2011 Jesuit/Portland, OR
65 Cameron Wright 6-3 ½ 192 78 2010 Benedictine/Cleveland, OH
24 Trey Ziegler 6-5 183 81 2011 Mount Pleasant/Mount Pleasant, MI
**Height measured in sneakers and weight measured without sneakers (Courtesy FIBA) .
