Miller, Mack help out in U.S. victory

Staff, Special Report

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AUCKLAND, New Zealand — Shelvin Mack scored 14 points and Darius Miller just missed a double-double in the United States' 112-55 rout of Egypt in the final game of pool play Saturday in the FIBA under-19 world basketball championships.

Ashton Gibbs led the United States with 18 points to help complete a sweep of pool games.

Mack, a former standout at Bryan Station, was 6-for-9 from the field and made two three-pointers. The Butler guard added four assists and two rebounds in 22 minutes of play.

Miller, a sophomore-to-be at Kentucky, recorded nine points and a team-high nine rebounds. The 2008 Mr. Basketball from Mason County also had an assist and a blocked shot in 20 minutes on the court.

Miller is averaging 5.0 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists in the tournament.

Mack is averaging 7.0 points, 3.3 assists and 1.7 rebounds.

John Shurna added 13 points and six rebounds for the Americans, who finished ahead of France, Egypt and Iran in Group B of the 16-team tournament. Gordon Hayward had 10 points, six rebounds and five assists.

The United States led 33-11 after the first quarter and 62-24 at halftime. With the game out of reach, all 12 players saw court time in the second half.

The win followed a 106-55 victory over Iran and a 71-55 win over France.

The United States shot 57 percent from the field and 44 percent from three-point range. The Americans outrebounded Egypt 49-28 and forced 15 turnovers.

The second round of the tournament will begin Sunday.

In Group D, Luciano Gomez scored 16 points and Mathias Nocedal added 14 as top-ranked Argentina routed Kazakhstan 98-69 to close in on the second round.

Ninth-ranked Australia upset third-ranked Spain 69-62 to move atop Group C.