MSU sophomore center Paul Davis and sophomore guard Maurice Ager are having a hand in leading the USA World Junior Championship Team to a 3-0 record in first round play at the 2003 FIBA Men's Junior World Championships in Thessaloniki, Greece.
A win Saturday over Nigeria secured the undefeated first round for Team USA as Ager scored 10 points and Davis added 6 to give the Americans a 88-69 victory.
The game was never in question for Team USA as it opened with a 10-1 lead on 4 points from Davis. Ager was 1-for-4 on three-point attempts while Davis lead the team in rebounds with 10.
Saturday's game capped pool play for the United States' squad, which beat China and former Spartan Erazem Lorbek's Slovenian team in days before.
On Friday, Team USA defeated China 109-84 on a strong scoring night by the Spartans. Davis scored 20 points in just 16 minutes of play and Ager added 14 points on 5-for-5 shooting to lead the American scoring attack.
The Americans held a one-point lead heading into the second quarter when the team exploded on an 18-4 run. Another 17-2 scoring run by Team USA in the third was enough to put the Chinese team away for good.
The night before the win over China, Team USA opened the championships by narrowly defeating a talented Slovenian team 84-83.
In a matchup of MSU's promising freshmen big men from a season ago, Lorbek came out on top.
The Slovenian scored a game-high 28 points, while his counterpart Davis added a team-high 24 points and 14 rebounds.
Davis helped rally the U.S. team from a 28-18 deficit on 9-for-18 shooting and adding three assists in 36 minutes of play. Ager was scoreless in 14 minutes of action.
In the first three games of the championships, Davis leads the team in rebounds (9.0 per game) and is the team's second-leading scorer (16.7 ppg).
Ager is sixth on the team in scoring with 8.0 points per game.
With the 3-0 record in pool play, Team USA finished first in Group C and advances to the medal round quarterfinals Monday through Wednesday. On Monday Team USA faces Puerto Rico (2-1) in the quarterfinal pool play.
