PORTLAND (USA) - The USA Team faced a major challenge at the 2025 Nike Hoop Summit despite some big-time firepower and needed the first-ever overtime to beat the World Team 124-114 in a history-making showdown with great individual performances for both teams.
AJ Dybantsa and Darius Acuff both scored 24 points and Cameroon Boozer added 22 points, a Hoop Summit record 16 rebounds as well as 6 assists for a USA team that set a new record for the most points in a game. USA wasted a 16-point lead with under 5 minutes to go and then dominated in overtime for their fifth straight win over the World Team.
"(It was a) great game between two talented teams – feel like it went down to the wire," Acuff was quoted on the USA Basketball website. "I feel that's how it's supposed to be though when two talented teams are playing against each other. Glad we came out with the win."
Acuff is one of four players on the USA team who helped the Americans take the title last summer at the FIBA U18 AmeriCup 2024 along with Nate Ament, Jasper Johnson and Nikolas Khamenia. USA Hoop Summit members Boozer, his twin brother Cayden Boozer, Dybantsa, Chris Cenac and Jalen Haralson meanwhile were all on the USA team that rolled to the championship at the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2024.
"We just wanted to be the tougher team. USA Basketball, we're the best 12 players in the country and we just wanted to go out there and show it," Cameron Boozer, who was the FIBA U17 World Cup 2024 Most Valuable Player, said after the game on the television broadcast of the showcase.
"The first half we had a lull, we weren't playing to the best of our abilities but at halftime we talked about getting tougher and getting rebounds and 50-50 balls. And that's what we did in the second half."
Benin's Tounde Yessoufou led the World Team with 24 points while Italian Dame Sarr had 17 points, Bogoljub Markovic collected 16 points and 10 rebounds and Eric Reibe, Tajh Ariza and Shon Abaev all chipped in 11 points.
China star forward Zhang Boyuan had a big first half and helped the World team go on a 12-2 run to lead 22-19, with the score even at 22-22 after 10 minutes. The global stars had the better second quarter, building the lead to 44-34 and even extended the cushion out to 53-41 just before halftime, with the score at 53-44 going into the break.
USA picked up the defensive intensity and were able to get out and run in the third quarter - led by Cam Boozer, Dybantsa and Acuff with a 28-7 start to the third quarter to lead 72-60. The cushion swelled to 15 points and was 81-68 after 30 minutes.
The USA side looked to be on cruise control and were ahead twice by 16 points - 87-71 and 92-76, the latter with about 4:30 minutes to go.
That was when the World Team mounted a comeback, a 15-0 surge spearheaded by Yessoufou and Sarr to make it 92-91, and three Sarr free throws evened the game 94-94. After Cam Boozer drained a big three-pointer, Yessoufou came up with a steal and dunk to pull within one point inside the final minute. Boozer managed just one of two free throws with 5.6 seconds left which allowed Yessoufou to go the length of the floor and lay it in to tie the game and force overtime.
USA Team was just too tough in the extra session, forcing turnovers and out-scoring the global side 12-2 to take a 10-point lead 110-100. And Mikel Brown iced the game down the stretch from the foul line, finishing the game with 17 points including 15 of 18 free throws.
Despite having some of basketball best future stars, USA faced a real dogfight from the international team, which included a number of players who are already playing professionally in their domestic leagues as well as others starring for high schools in the United States.
"A lot of people have been doubting us the whole time and expecting them to win. So we came here with a killer mentality and try to win," Yessoufou said on the television broadcast at halftime of the game.
The USA Team leads the Hoop Summit all-time series at 19–7. The last victory for the World Team came in 2018.
FIBA