In the final seconds, Wayne Selden clutched the basketball in his right hand and flung it high into the air inside Yeomju Gymnasium. Frank Mason grabbed an American flag and draped it over his shoulders. Somehow, after a grueling double-overtime classic, the United States had claimed gold at the World University Games with an 84-77 victory over Germany.
It was indeed an instant classic — if one can use that word to describe a sloppily played game between two wobbly-legged teams in Gwangju, South Korea. After eight games in 11 days, a Jayhawk-infused Team USA had survived eight opponents and two overtimes to stay perfect in South Korea, earning the United States’ first World University Games gold in men’s basketball since 2005.