Men's Basketball: Gansey Golden
August 21, 2005 02:07 PM | General
August 21, 2005
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| Gansey |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University’s Mike Gansey has just added a gold medal to his trophy case. The Olmstead Falls, Ohio, resident was part of a winning U.S. effort Sunday afternoon in the World University Games played in Izmir, Turkey.
The U.S. defeated Ukraine 85-70 in the championship game to finish the Games with an 8-0 record. Boston College forward Craig Smith led the Americans with 16 points, all in the first half, and Duke’s Sheldon Williams contributed 15.
Six different U.S. players reached double figures. Gansey came off the bench to score a basket and grab three rebounds. The 6-foot-4-inch senior-to-be finished the tournament averaging 6.4 points and 3.4 rebounds per game. Gansey shot 40.9 percent from the field (18 of 44) including 23.8 percent from three-point distance (5 of 21). He was 10 of 14 from the free-throw line for 71.4 percent.
Gansey finished second on the team in free-throw shooting behind Kentucky’s Patrick Sparks and was seventh in total points with 51. He was also tied for fifth with Stanford’s Matt Haryasz with 10 offensive rebounds.
The gold medal was Team USA’s 13th for the World University Games; the U.S. has medaled in all 18 Games. Team USA’s record for the World University Games is now 127-17. Villanova’s Jay Wright coached the team.
Gansey is believed to be the first West Virginia University men’s basketball player to be a member of a gold-medal-winning international team since Jerry West was a member of the 1960 U.S. Olympic gold-medal winning squad.
Meanwhile, West Virginia University guard Joe Herber helped Germany to a fifth-place finish with a 74-55 victory over Turkey. Herber scored six points and grabbed four rebounds to help the Germans finish the Games with a 6-2 record.
