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15th Annual Douai U19 World Amateur Basketball Championships 2001

USA wins 15th Annual Douai World Championships 2001

First USA team to take home the World Cup

Douai World Tournament Official Site

USA game by game details below

6/5/2001- The USA and Canada were both undefeated going into the championship.   Both teams were equally impressive with a  win over tournament favorite, Argentina.  But in the championship, the USA held on to defeat Canada 102-99, before another sellout crowd at the Gayant Arena.  This was the first time the USA ever won the prestigious Douai World Amateur Basketball Championships in the 15 year history of the tournament.  The highest previous finish was fifth place.  Some of the previous elite players that attended the event from the USA were Dajuan Wagner & Anthony Rice, Memphis; Rashaad Carruth & Marvin Stone, Kentucky; Steve Hunter, DePaul; Wesley Wilson, Georgetown; Tito Maddox, Fresno State; Josh Powell, N.C. State; Karl Hollingsworth, Tulane; Josh Pace, Syracuse; Kyle Wilson, UMASS; Vladimir Radmanovic, Ohio State; and Derrick Potter, Oregon State.

The USA trailed after the first quarter, 30 - 23.  "We were not moving the basketball." said Linzy Davis, USA Head Coach   "We were making one pass, then going one-on-one.  We got away from our game plan; and instead of getting easy opportunities and offensive rebounds, we were getting one shot, and Canada was scoring in transition."

The USA made the adjustments and began the second quarter with an 8-0 run, to take a 31-30 lead.  In that series, Jawad Williams and Camelo Anthony connected on back-to-back "alley-oop" dunks from Billy Edelin, sending the emotional capacity crowd to their feet screaming USA.  Ro Russell, Canada National team head coach, called time-out.  But it was more USA as Shelden Williams, hit a  3 pointer, then scored inside.  It looked like the USA was going to break away as they built a 14 point lead before 6'5 Jr 2G Denham Brown, Toronto, Canada, reeled off 7 of his 22 first half points, which closed the USA half-time lead to 55-48.

"Denham was difficult to match up with."  said USA assistant coach Wil Robinson..  "He took 18 shots in the first half.  Camelo and Jawad were the only players that could contain him.  He was unstoppable in transition.  And if you gave him an inch on the perimeter, he would hit the 3-point shot.  His teammates were knocking down the perimeter shots if we went to double-team Denham.  It was a pure chest match."

The USA controlled the third quarter.  7'0 center Craig Forth, scored six crucial points and grabbed four rebounds.  6'8 soph WF Corey Gibbs, grabbed two rebounds and scored on a high flying dunk, on an assist from 6'3 Jr CG Mike Crain, which helped offset Canada's balanced scoring attack. 

  Jawad Williams

But early in the forth quarter, Camelo Anthony, picked up his forth foul, on an offensive rebound, which forced the USA to make a defensive adjustment on Denham Brown, and Denham scored 12 points to bring Canada within five points with four minutes remaining.  But everytime they threaten to come within three points, Billy Edelin responded with two points or an assist. 

Canada made a big charge with 1:20 remaining.  Camelo Anthony, picked up his 5th foul when the score was 96-92.  But 6'4 Jr 2G DeAngelo Alexander, Midwest City, Ok., scored a bigtime 3-point shot with  58 seconds remaining in the game, to slow Canada's momentum. 

Canada began exchanging 3 points to the USA's 2 points and reduced the lead to 100-99, with 1.2 seconds left when Denham Brown hit his last 3-point shot.  Canada pressed in hopes of stealing the inbound pass for the game winning shot, but Billy Edelin threw the ball the length of the court to a wide open Jawad Williams who ended the game with a two-handed slam dunk. 

6'8 Jr WF Camelo Anthony, Baltimore, Md., finished with 28 points and edge out 6'3 Sr PG Billy Edelin, Baltimore, Md., who finished with 25 points and 11 assist, for the MVP.  Both will attend Syracuse University.  6'9 Jr PF Shelden Williams, Midwest City, Ok.,finished with 25 points, 12 rebounds, joined Camelo and Billy as first team All Tournament.  6'11 Soph Center Shawn Taylor, Vienna, Ga. and 6'8 Soph WF/PF Corey Gibbs, Atlanta, Ga., made the all rookie team.

Denham Brown led all scorers' with 42 points and made first team All Tournament.

"This is a great emotional win.  Our players loved the big following they received during the tournament and in the town.  They signed autographs everywhere they went.  They felt special and played special.  France has great fans. " said Linzy Davis, who was toasted with water along with Wil Robinson by the players after the game.  "It was a total team effort. We all had to make tremendous sacrifices to get here and compete.  Now I want to reward the guys with World Championship rings, plaques, and trophies." said Davis. "They also wanted to keep their uniforms so I may have to invest into a new set of uniforms for next year. The guys really deserve it."

"Our USA team had to put their individual egos aside from top to bottom, to come together for a common cause, and that was to win our first World Championship in Douai." said Wil Robinson. "We had one hour before our first exhibition game to prepare for this tournament. And the guys caught on fast.  This was a special group of guys." 

The USA returns eight players for next years Douai U19 World Championship and will be favored to win. 

You can email us to have Jean Pierre Ciesielski, Assistant Tournament Director, send you video of the game of your choice.

More game results, pictures, stats, to come...  It's under construction.

 Final standings - Edition 2001

United States, Canada, Argentina

1- USA

2- CANADA

3- ARGENTINA

4- LITHUANIA

5- CROATIA

6- CZECH REPUBLIC

7- POLAND

8- FRANCE

Championship photos. A "must-see" photo gallery.  Pageant models, the French celebration, and much more...

DAY BY DAY TOURNAMENT RECAP.  Follow the links or choose your game below.

USA VS ARGENTINA EXHIBITION

USA vs France Game 1

USA vs Croatia Game 2 & Lithuania game 3 

USA vs Argentina Semi-final Results               

Douai World Tournament Official Site