U.S. point guard Brian Cronin drives for a layup during the first quarter against Greece on Sunday at Taipei Gymnasium during the men's basketball semifinals. (Photo by Jason Chiou)
Men's basketball escapes near-defeat against GreeceTeam in gold-medal match against Lithuania on Mondayby Colin Whited on September 13, 2009 The 1953 World Games for the Deaf in Brussels was the last time the U.S. Men’s Basketball Team tasted defeat at the Deaflympics. Sunday, as the Americans played defending world champion Greece in front of a packed Taipei Gymnasium crowd, they stared defeat right in the eyes. Trailing by as many as 16 points in the first half, the Americans clawed their way back into the game to win, 64-57, and earn a spot in the gold-medal match Monday against Lithuania. The game started off with a cold-shooting U.S. squad that struggled to make plays on the offensive end, enabling the Greeks to take a 17-8 lead at the end of the first quarter. The U.S.’s struggles from the outside almost doomed them, as they shot two of 20 from beyond the arc and 22 of 67, overall. “In the first half, we weren’t able to click on the offensive end,” head coach Keith Westhoelter said. “Since 2002, Greece has been an international power, so we also knew it was going to be a tough game.” The U.S. got a boost from the clutch play of Sekoe White, who hit a three to put USA up for good at 54-51 with 7:35 to play in the fourth. He later added a long-range jump shot and a layup to extend the U.S.’s lead to 62-55 with 2:14 remaining. “I just shot and made baskets,” White said. “The real credit ought to go to our defense.” The one thing the U.S. has been able to do consistently throughout the Deaflympics is clamp down on defense. The Americans did just that today, holding Greece to 21 of 57 shooting from the floor and forcing 22 turnovers. They also out-rebounded a tall Greek squad, 47-34. “Again, the key against Greece was our defense,” Westhoelter said. “Like I said before, if we continue to play defense at a high level, we’ll go far. We need to do just that tomorrow if we want to win.” When the U.S. found itself facing a deficit at halftime, White said the words of veteran leader Mike Kent proved to be valuable. “In the locker room, Mike reminded us who we were playing for: USA,” he said. “Once we were able to get that into our heads, we came out and played a lot better in the second half.” White finished with 20 points and six steals, while Edlin Dorn played well with his back to the basket, chipping in 15 points and six boards. Robert Haney had a double-double with 10 points and 11 boards, despite shooting 3 of 17 from the field. Bradley Miller was able to make his presence felt in the paint, scoring eight points and grabbing 11 rebounds, nine of them offensive. In the post-game press conference, the Greek head coach declined to give the U.S. much credit, instead attributing the Hellenic team’s loss to poor officiating. “The U.S. did not just beat us, the referees did,” he said. The U.S. “pressured us in the fourth, but there were too many no-calls.” One of the reasons the coach was fuming was because three Greek players fouled out, while the U.S. lost no one. Westhoelter was much more elegant about his opponents. “Greece played excellent today. They fought hard, and I give them a lot of credit for doing so,” he said. Monday, the U.S. seeks vengeance against Lithuania, who defeated them in the semifinals of the 2007 World Championship in Guangzhou, China. Lithuania beat Israel, 87-36, in the other semifinal Sunday. A win will give the American Deaflympic basketball squad an unprecedented 14th consecutive gold medal in the Games. |
 U.S. point guard Brian Cronin drives for a layup during the first quarter against Greece on Sunday at Taipei Gymnasium during the men's basketball semifinals. (Photo by Jason Chiou)
 Greece's Konstantinos Gkanatsas kneels on the ground after losing to the U.S. on Sunday at Taipei Gymnasium during the men's basketball semifinals. The Americans erased a three-period defecit in the fourth quarter for the victory against Greece. (Photo by Jason Chiou)
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