The USA basketball team clinched fifth place with a 77-74 comeback win against Panama in Pan Am Games competition Sunday night in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Washington State guard Derrick Low led the way with 16 points, while Vanderbilt's Shan Foster and Indiana's D.J. White each chipped in with 14 apiece for team USA.
"This game was a real character game. I think it showed how much we've come together as a team," said coach Jay Wright, whose team finished with a 3-2 record for the competition. "Everything we tried, all of our scorers in the previous games couldn't score and we just went to our bench. Our guys coming off the bench played a completely different style than we've played the whole time here and we just gutted it out. I think that just shows how much they have come together and how well they have learned to adapt together. It's a credit to these kids' character. That was a gutty win."
Also on Sunday, Brazil pounded Puerto Rico 86-65 in the gold medal game, Uruguay scored a 99-93 overtime win against Argentina, and Canada captured its first win of the Pan Am Games by defeating the U.S. Virgin Islands 69-60 in the seventh place matchup.