Saitama, Japan ? Nick Collison won’t have to settle for a silver medal this year.
Collison, Kansas University’s junior forward from Iowa Falls, Iowa, who was part of last year’s runner-up squad at the World Championship for Young Men qualifying tournament, scored 15 points in the United States’ 89-80 gold-medal victory over Croatia on Sunday at the World Basketball Championship for Young Men Tournament.
The 6-foot-9 Collison hit six of 12 shots and three of five free throws. He also had four rebounds and three assists while fouling out in a 21-minute stint in the title contest.
“It’s not very fun to win the silver,” Collison said of last year. “It’s a good effort, but you come here to win the gold and it’s disappointing if you don’t do it. So this has been a lot of fun this year. I can go home now with the gold. I’m very happy about it.”
Duke’s Chris Duhon and Troy Bell of Boston College combined for 11 three-pointers. Bell scored 24 points, including six three-pointers, and Duhon was 5-for-12 from beyond the arc in a 19-point effort with 14 assists.
The U.S. finished the 12-nation tournament 8-0.
“It was a great game,” Duhon said. “Croatia gave us everything we could handle. They made some unbelievable shots and fought us all the way to the end.”
As it did all tournament, the U.S. team had a big third period, scoring 27 points to take a 69-59 lead. Bell scored five points and Collison four as the U.S. turned a 47-42 halftime deficit into a 51-47 lead.
U.S. coach Jim Boeheim lauded the play of Collison, who averaged 9.1 points and 5.4 rebounds per game in the tournament.
“Nick has really been in foul trouble every game so he hasn’t got to show what he can do,” Boeheim said. “Even tonight he was having a great game, but he played only 21 minutes. But he was a big key. When their big guy got his fourth foul, we went inside three or four times for easy layups.”
The victory marks the second time in the history of the U21 tournament that the United States has claimed the gold medal. The U.S. won the inaugural tournament in 1993 in Spain.
“It was by far our best performance,” Boeheim said.
