SAO SEBASTIÁO DOS PARAISO, Brazil -- Incoming Duke freshman Rasheed Sulaimon scored 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting to help the Team USA Men's U18 National Team to a commanding 105-42 win over the U.S. Virgin Islands in the preliminary round of the 2012 FIBA Americas U18 Championship on Saturday afternoon.
A native of Houston, Texas (Strake Jesuit College Prep), Sulaimon played the second most minutes of any USA player and filled the stat sheet with five rebounds, three assists, a steal and a block. He shot 1-of-3 from the three-point line as Team USA scored at least 22 points in all four quarters.
Forward Shaq Goodwin led Team USA with 30 points on a perfect 12-of-12 shooting performance. Forwards Jarnell Stokes (19 points) and Julius Randle (12 points) also scored in double figures.
"I thought we got much better in the second half. I thought we took advantage of our frontcourt players," said USA and University of Florida head coach Billy Donovan. "In the first half we turned it over a little too much, but we did a great job getting to the free throw line, we went to the free throw line 33 times in the first half. The problem was we only converted 16-of-33, we left a lot of points out there. But I thought as the game started to unfold we did a better job of recognizing that we had a huge advantage up front and I thought Shaq Goodwin, Jarnell Stokes, Montrezl (Harrell), all those guys did a nice job finishing around the basket."
Goodwin's 30-point outpouring was the third highest single game scoring effort in USA Basketball U18 Championship history. His 12-12 shooting set a U.S. mark for highest field goal percentage in a U18 game.
"I think the chemistry really just built up towards the second half. I knew our guards we're going to push it so I basically just had to run the floor and they put me in the best position to score," said Goodwin. "I've never had a game like that before and I didn't realize (perfect shooting) it (tonight). I was just playing basketball, I don't know, I was just at the right place at the right time."
Never trailing in the contest, the USA showed it was stronger, deeper and more talented than the undermanned U.S. Virgin Islands squad.
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