Buenos Aires, Argentina – The U.S. Men’s U23 Team was tested at the 2017 U23 America’s Wheelchair Basketball World Championships by Brazil on Thursday, and pulled away in the second half to keep an unblemished 4-0 record. Team USA escaped with a 65-48 victory over Brazil. Up next, Team USA will face Chile on Friday, and finish the tournament against host country Argentina on Saturday. 

University of Wisconsin at Whitewater’s Kyle Gribble of Elmhurst, Illinois, continued to dominate the offensive side of the court for the fourth consecutive day. He scored 14 of the team’s 16 points in the first quarter for a 16-10 lead. The second quarter was back and forth between both countries, with Team USA holding a 17-14 advantage for a 33-24 lead.

“The combination of turnovers and defensive mistakes kept the game close in the first half,” said U.S. Men’s U23 Head Coach and U.S. Paralympic medalist Jeremy Lade of Whitewater, Wisconsin. “The team focused on not making simple mistakes in the second half which allowed us to pull away from Brazil. It was a great opportunity to make some adjustments and improvements because of the challenges Brazil posted.”

Coming out of the locker room with a look, Team USA turned to University of Missouri’s Marhsall Lindsay of Stansbury Park, Utah, for a surge as he scored 8 of his 19 points in the third quarter. This strategy shifted Brazil’s focus in the final verse to focus on Lindsay, and this allowed Gribble to score 8 points in the fourth and to finish with a tournament high 31 points.

Team USA saw contributions from five other players throughout the game. After four days of play, Team USA has outscored the field 294-135, and will tip off against Chile on Friday.

The United States must place in top two to qualify for the 2017 IWBF Men’s U23 World Championships, scheduled for Toronto, Canada, June 8-16.

U.S. Paralympic medalist Jeremy Lade of Whitewater, Wisconsin, is serving as the head coach of the Men’s U23 World Championships team, and it is his first coaching assignment for the United States. Also on the sidelines are assistant coaches Christian Burkett of Seattle, Washington, and Scott Meyer of Columbia, Missouri. Kelly Fischbach will serve as the Team Leader, with Mike Lenser of Whitewater, Wisconsin working at the athletic trainer.

The U23 men’s wheelchair basketball program is an international development team that serves as NWBA pipeline to the U.S. Men’s National Team. This program provides elite youth athletes the opportunity to compete at the international level. Team USA has reached the championship game in three of the last five U23 World Championships, having won in 2005 and 2009. The United States claimed a bronze medal in 2001, and did not participate in 2013. 

2017 America’s Wheelchair Basketball World Championships Qualifier

Buenos Aires, Argentina

January 23-28

Results

USA def. Brazil, 64-38

USA def. Chile, 96-31

USA def. Argentina, 69-18

USA def. Brazil, 65-48

Schedule

January 27 Chile vs. USA

January 28 Argentina vs. USA