The USA U16 national basketball team captured its seventh consecutive FIBA Americas gold medal as
Robert Dillingham poured in 31 to pace the 90-75 win over Argentina on Sunday. The victory extends its all-time record to 37-0 in FIBA Americas Championship competition since its 2009 debut.
The 31 points from Combine Academy's Dillingham was a team record as he added six rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Ronald Holland of Duncanville (Texas) had a strong performance for Team USA, finishing with 21 points
and 12 rebounds. He averaged a team-best 19 points
and 10.2 rebounds through six games.
Dillingham sparked a 13-1 run midway through the second period to cut a 14-point Argentina and the US trailed 31-30 at halftime. Team USA struggled from the field in the first half, hitting 9-of-33 from the field and 1-of-14 from range. They pulled away in the third quarter, connecting on 12-of-23 from the field to take a 59-50 lead heading into the fourth.
The 15-point victory was the team's slimmest margin of victory of the tournament, outscoring opponents 611-334 through their first five games. Meanwhile, the 90 points was the lowest scoring output of the tournament after averaging 122.2 points heading into the championship game.
Team USA finished the game shooting 42.9 percent from the field and knocked down 11-of-37 from 3-point territory. They held Argentina to 37 percent shooting and forced 20 turnovers while outrebounding Argentina by 17. Tiziano Prome finished with a team-high 15 points and 6 rebounds in the loss for Argentina.
Both countries also earned a spot in the 2022 FIBA U17 World Cup, along with Dominican Republic and Canada, which qualified after advancing to the FIBA Americans semifinals this weekend.
Robert Dillingham, Combine Academy
File photo by Steven Worthy
