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U.S. Parapan American Men’s Wheelchair Basketball Team Opens with Big Win Against Puerto Rico
By Susan Katz
// USOC Media Services
// August 13, 2007
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Mikey Paye went 7-of-8 from the field for 15 points in the U.S. men’s win over Puerto Rico.
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RIO DE JANEIRO — The U.S. Men’s Wheelchair Basketball Team began the 2007 Parapan American Games with a resounding 93-16 victory over Puerto Rico at the Rio Multipurpose Arena.
“We showed we’re a very versatile team today. In the first quarter we played a quicker pace, kept our space and did a nice job of hitting our transition lay-ups,” said U.S. co-captain Mikey Paye (Warren, Mich./Gissen, Germany). “Then we were able to switch it up and focus on the outside game. We had awesome balance on the floor today, we played very fundamental basketball and we’re all very happy.”
The U.S. put the clamps on defensively from the start and used the first half of the game to focus on its offensive transition. The team scored all but one of its first quarter field goals on lay-ups and on the defensive end held Puerto Rico to only seven points in the half, including throwing a shutout in the second quarter.
“Puerto Rico is new on the international scene and they have a lot of inexperienced players,” said U.S. head coach Steve Wilson (Racine, Wisc.). “We just stuck to our fundamentals on offense and tried to stay under everything on defense. We weren’t out there to do anything flashy.”
Wilson took advantage of a comfortable 52-7 halftime lead and used the opportunity to give his rookie players the chance to get some minutes. All 12 U.S. athletes played in the game and 10 of them got on the scoreboard.
“This was a good game to come out and get used to the gym,” said U.S. co-captain Jeremy Lade (Oconto, Wisc./Janesville, Wisc.). “Everybody got good looks and was able to take shots they’re going to need to take later in the tournament.”
Paye and Paul Schulte (Manchester, Mich./Bradenton, Fla.) led the team with 15 points apiece and three other players also scored in double digits. Joe Chambers (Davis, Calif./Whitewater, Wisc.) knocked down 12 points while Aaron Gouge (Wake Forest, N.C./Arlington, Texas) and Matt Scott (Detroit, Mich./Whitewater, Wisc.) each contributed 10.
“This was a nice first effort and our goal is to continue to build ourselves to greatness, to improve each other and make each other better with every game,” said Wilson.
The U.S. plays its second game of pool play against Argentina at 8:00 p.m. (local) on Tuesday, Aug. 14.
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