Norris Cole game-winner sends USA past Puerto Rico and into Semi-Finals

RECIFE (Brazil) - In a tightly contested and thrilling Quarter-Final showdown, it was USA who is moving on to the Semi-Finals of the FIBA AmeriCup 2022 after emerging victorious over Puerto Rico 85-84, thanks to a game-winning shot by Norris Cole.

Puerto Rico got off to a hot start and outscored USA 27-23 in the first quarter, but they struggled with their shot in the second quarter, while USA found some rhythm. USA trailed 39-29 with a little under five minutes to go in the second quarter before closing the quarter on a 13-3 run to tie the game at 42 at halftime.

Jeremy Pargo tallied11 points to lead USA in the first half, while Puerto Rico's twin towers of George Conditt and Ismael Romero combined for 12 points in the first two quarters.

USA didn't let up in the third quarter, outscoring Puerto Rico 22-18 and grabbing a four-point lead heading into the final 10 minutes of play, and that final quarter proved to be exciting and full of action on both sides, including three lead changes in the final nine seconds.

Trailing 82-76, Puerto Rico got multiple offensive rebounds on one possession that led to three attempts at a three-pointer to try to cut into the lead, but they missed all three shots from deep. They got some redemption however, as a quick 4-0 run cut their deficit to two points with only 43 seconds left.

The last 30 seconds of the game were a flurry of back-and-forth action. Two clutch free throws by Ethan Thompson, who scored 12 of his 16 points in the final quarter, tied the game at 82, but soon after, Cole converted 1-of-2 free-throws to put USA up one. After a Puerto Rico timeout, Tremont Waters drove strong to the hoop for a tough layup, putting them up 84-83 with six seconds left, leading to a timeout by USA.

Not to be outdone, Cole then responded by sinking a game-winning running shot with 1.4 seconds remaining to push USA through to the Semi-Finals.

Cole led USA with 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field and 3-of-4 from three-point and came up with the clutch game-winner which led to him being named TCL Player of the Game.

Pargo added 15 points, 3 rebounds and 5 assists, while Zylan Cheatham chipped in 11 points on a perfect 3-of-3 shooting from the field.

A key difference in the game was three-point shooting, as USA made 12 shots from behind the arc and Puerto Rico only were able to convert 3-of-18, getting outscored by 27 points in that category. Cole and Pargo combined to knock down six of the team's 12 total threes.

USA will now face the winner of Argentina vs. Venezuela in the Semi-Finals on Saturday September 10.

"They [Puerto Rico] were very well prepared, and they executed a lot better than we did to start the game and throughout the game. We were fortunate that we have guys like Norris that had to make really tough plays for us to win. But hopefully it's a good lesson for us moving forward that it's hard to rely on one or two performances to win games, since it only gets harder after this." - USA head coach Alex Jensen

"I just wanted to make a play for the team. I was disappointed that I missed that one free throw that I felt probably could've iced the game. I told coach going into the timeout, get it to me, I'm ready, and he trusted me, the team trusted me. Moments like that everybody dreams about." - Norris Cole, USA

"Tough loss as a unit, as a family, as a group. We stood together for 40 minutes, and we believed like we got a chance to win this game. We had execution on both sides, good defense, good offense, and at the end of the day, when you lose games like this, it's about the learning process for us. Keep going in the future." - Puerto Rico head coach Nelson Colon

"I definitely appreciate my coaches and my teammates for letting me take the keys to the car and kind of running the program. It was my first AmeriCup, but I'm definitely embracing the moment and I'm just going to continue to grow with my teammates and just get better." - Tremont Waters, Puerto Rico

FIBA