Two NYers Rep USA in Germany
The Albert Schweitzer Tournament (AST) is an international competition played between 18U national basketball teams. The event takes place every two years in Mannheim, Germany, between teams from 16 different countries.
Notable NBA players that have participated in past AST's include Magic Johnson, Tony Parker, Kevin Garnett, Vince Carter, Tim Duncan and Pau Gasol.
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This year, St. Joe's bound Shavar Newkirk and Rutgers commit Mike Williams, two players from New York were selected to play for the USA Select Team. Because of the timing conflict, both opted to miss the Jordan Brand Classic Regional Game at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY in order to participate in the prestigious international event abroad.
United States Teams have won the AST ten times since its inception in 1958 of but haven't won since 1996. The 2012 champion is Spain.
On Saturday, USA Select, coached by Michael Olson, played their opening game against Chile. Led by Newkirk's game high 22 points, USA would advance past Chile, 92-71. Williams added 7 points.
USA Select won their second game, 90-75, against Ukraine, a team led by 16 year old NBA prospect Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk. 6'9" Ethan Happ led Team USA with 24 points and 9 rebounds followed by Williams and Newkirk who added 14 points and 10 points respectively.
The undefeated United States team continued the pursuit of a their first championship in eight years when they beat France on Monday, 83-75. Williams led USA Select with 20 points. Newkirk added 15 points. USA Select is now 3-0 and do not play until Wednesday. The tournament ends on April 26th.