PR N°23 - USA hold off Croatia to complete historic U19 title defence

HERAKLION (2015 FIBA U19 World Championship) - The United States became the first country since 1983 to successfully defends its title, holding off Croatia, 79-71, after overtime in Sunday’s Final in capturing the 2015 FIBA U19 World Championship.

The USA claimed their sixth U19 title as four players scored in double figures paced by Jalen Brunson's 14 points. Croatia got their first podium finish in taking second place. Click here for the full game report.

Turkey also ended up in the top three at the FIBA U19 World Championship for the first time ever by beating hosts Greece, 80-71, in the Third-Place Game. Click here for the full game report.

Brunson received the MVP award, presented by Tissot. He headlined the All-Star Five with team-mate Harry Giles, Croatia's Marko Arapovic, Turkey’s Furkan Korkmaz and Greece's Tyler Dorsey.

In the Classification Games, Canada cruised past Italy 77-44 for fifth place, Australia beat Spain 103-72 to finish seventh, while Serbia came in ninth after edging out Argentina 77-76, Egypt beat Korea 101-88 for 11th place, Dominican Republic grabbed 13th place thanks to a 71-50 rout of Korea and China got the better of Tunisia 80-68 in the game for 15th place.

Final standings of the 2015 FIBA U19 World Championship:
1. USA
2. Croatia
3. Turkey
4. Greece
5. Canada
6. Italy
7. Australia
8. Spain
9. Serbia
10. Argentina
11. Egypt
12. Korea
13. Dominican Republic
14. Iran
15. China
16. Tunisia

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About the FIBA U19 World Championship

The FIBA U19 World Championship, formerly known as the FIBA World Championship for Junior Men, is where the stars of tomorrow are born.

Superstars such as Dejan Bodiroga, Juan Carlos Navarro, Andrei Kirilenko, Andrew Bogut, Nicolas Batum, Stephen Curry and Jonas Valanciunas have all shone bright in past editions of this championship.

The inaugural event took place in Brazil in 1979. Staged every four years from 1979 to 2007, it has been held every two years since 2009.