It’s fitting that on the day America was celebrating its independence, Team USA saved its fireworks for the final seconds in Thursday’s 69-65 victory over Finland in the first game of the preliminary round of the World University Games in Italy.
With 44 seconds to play freshman Alex Hemenway completed a four play that lifted Clemson (Team USA) to the win. Hemenway drained a three-pointer while being fouled by Finland’s Edon Maxhuni. The three broke a 63-63 tie at the time.
Fellow freshman Al-Amir Dawes sealed the victory by making two free throws with 10 seconds to play.