Clemson's USA Team rallies to top Finland in opener

Alex Hemenway and Al-Amir Dawes following Hemenway’s four-point play – (Ben Winterrowd/Clemson University Athletics Communications)

by CU Athletic Communications - Thu Jul 04 18:05:53 GMT-04:00 2019

NAPLES, Italy –– Clemson University men’s basketball, representing USA Team during the 2019 World University Games, defeated Finland in its pool play opener, 69-65.

Aamir Simms led the way for the United States with 17 points on 7-for-16 shooting en route to a double-double with a team-high 13 rebounds.

Tevin Mack reached double-figures for the Red, White and Blue with 10 points.

Alex Hemenway finished with 10 points off the bench for the United States. After trailing by as much as seven points in the late-going, Hemenway, with quite possibly the play of the night and with the score knotted at 63-all and 44 seconds remaining, knocked down a deep 3-pointer while being fouled and hit the free throw to give the U.S. a 67-63 advantage and help seal a victory.

The Hemenway four-point play capped an 11-0 scoring run for the United States. They trailed 63-57 before engineering the game-sealing run.

Al-Amir Dawes finished with nine and Hunter Tyson tallied five.

The United States finished with 13 assists and 10 steals, while forcing Finland to commit 21 turnovers.

Clemson plays Ukraine next at 7 a.m. ET on Friday.

Getting it done for the Red, White and Blue on Independence Day ??????#USA pic.twitter.com/GvgzfLcexm
— Clemson Basketball (@ClemsonMBB) July 4, 2019

USA! USA! USA! pic.twitter.com/ucM9LTGl99
— Clemson Basketball (@ClemsonMBB) July 4, 2019

Day 4 in Naples- clouds must have heard me bc they happy to see me now(: we played our first match on the anniversary of our independence and I couldn’t be more proud of my guys...Clemson Grit- Passion and perseverance towards a long term goal- WE DID THAT???????? #Dubsonly #H4th????
— Aamir Simms (@EarlShmitty_) July 4, 2019

We lead Finland 21-11 after the first quarter of action. #USA pic.twitter.com/KDRfsQfWuT
— Clemson Basketball (@ClemsonMBB) July 4, 2019

Schedule

Friday, July 5

1 p.m. – USA (Clemson) vs. Ukraine (7 a.m. ET) / Pala Barbuto (Naples, Italy)

1 p.m. – China vs. Finland

Saturday, July 6

5:30 p.m. – USA (Clemson) vs. China (11:30 a.m. ET) / Pala Jacazzi (Aversa, Italy)

8 p.m. – Finland vs. Ukraine

July 8 – July 11 Bracket Play

Medal Bracket Play (Semifinal games on July 9 and gold/bronze medal games on July 11 are slated to be televised by Olympic Channel; Broadcast information for other games have yet to be announced).