U.S. downs Senegal, rolls into second round undefeated

Aug 24, 2006, 12:55 GMT

Sapporo, Japan - LeBron James netted 17 points -- 15 in the first half -- as the United States cruised past Senegal 103-58 to remain undefeated at the World Basketball Championships.

The U.S. won all five of its preliminary round matchups and had already clinched first place in Group D after besting Italy on Wednesday.

Carmelo Anthony, who scored 35 points against the Italians a day ago, added 12 points in just 14 minutes while Chris Bosh paced the United States with 20 points.

Maleye Ndoye had 25 points to lead Senegal, which lost all five of its round- robin matchups.

Next up for the Group D-champion Americans will be the fourth place finisher in Group C, Australia, on Sunday.

One day after facing its toughest competition so far in Italy, the United States had little trouble with an overmatched Senegal.

The U.S. built a 26-13 lead after the first quarter and outscored Senegal 32-11 in the second frame to take a 58-24 advantage into halftime. Anthony had nine points in the first two quarters while Joe Johnson added another eight. Johnson finished the game with 11 points overall.

Dwyane Wade sat the game out for the United States, which hit on more than 50 percent of its shots from the field.

In other action around the World Basketball Championships, Shipeng Wang hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to lift China over Slovenia, 78-77. It was Shipeng's first points of the game. Yao Ming netted a game-high 36 points with 10 rebounds.

Another thrilling contest in Hiroshima saw Dirk Nowitzki drop 47 points in addition to 16 rebounds, lifting Germany over Angola, 108-103, in triple overtime. The contest marked the first time a World Championship contest went to three extra frames.

© 2006 The Sports Network