July 20, 2009
DILIEGRO, U.S. HOOP TEAM ADVANCE TO SEMIS AT MACCABIAH
DURHAM, N.H.
– Junior center Dane DiLiegro (Lexington,
Mass.) and the United States men’s basketball team have
captured the No. 1 seed in their group after round-robin play and
advance to Tuesday’s semifinal where they take on
Canada.
The U.S. squad went 3-1 with wins over Mexico (112-13) on July
14, France (135-77) on July 15 and Argentina (97-89) on July 20.
The only setback for the Americans was a last-second, 73-71 loss to
Russia on July 19. The U.S. will play Canada (3-1), the second
seed from Group A in the first semifinal Tuesday at 9 a.m. EST. The
Americans defeated Canada 94-32 in an exhibition contest July 12.
Argentina (3-1) grabbed the second seed in Group B and will play
Group A’s top seed, Israel (4-0) at 11 a.m. EST on Tuesday.
The winner of both semifinals will meet in the championship game
Wednesday at noon.
DiLiegro has been solid throughout the tournament, averaging
7.8 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. The 6-9 DiLiegro opened the
Games with a 10-point showing versus Mexico, followed by an
11-point, seven rebound performance against France. Trailing 71-69
versus Russia, DiLiegro’s tip-in with five seconds on the
clock tied the game, before the Russians scored with one second
remaining to steal the victory. DiLiegro finished the game with
eight points and seven boards.
Those with DIRECTV can watch the games on channel 366, while
those with Time Warner Cable can watch the games on channel 120 in
New York and New Jersey, channel 137 in the Hudson Bay area and
channel 491 in San Antonio. Fans without these providers can still
watch the games free online at www.jltv.tv, and can also follow the results at www.maccabiah.com.
