World University Games : U.S. Defeats Soviets for Basketball Title

The United States won its first major men’s international basketball competition in three years on Tuesday with an 88-80 victory over the Soviet Union in the championship game of the World University Games.

Stephen Thompson of Syracuse scored 16 points to lead the U.S. team, and Stacey Augmon, the only player here who also played on the bronze medal team at Seoul, added 15 points.

The title was the first for the United States since the 1986 World Championships. The United States lost on home soil to Brazil in the 1987 Pan Am Games and was beaten by the Soviet Union in the semifinals of the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

Larry Johnson, who will join Augmon at Nevada Las Vegas next season, had 14 points and 11 rebounds for the United States, which overcame an early eight-point deficit to take a 47-40 halftime lead.

“They played slowdown and they played a little herky-jerky during a couple of streaks,” said U.S. Coach Gene Keady of Purdue. “But we didn’t expect to beat anyone badly in the final. We’d have been glad with a one-point win.

“I feel that the U.S. image has slipped a bit. But at the same time, though, we wanted to be number one again. We feel we have a team that could stand on its own against anyone here regardless of the past.”

The United States took control of the game with pressure defense and inside dominance. The Soviets committed 19 turnovers to just four for the United States.

Goundars Vetra led all scorers with 27 points, 17 in the first half when the Soviet Union was able to slow the pace and take advantage of his outside shooting.

Vetra, who also had seven rebounds, fouled out midway through the second half, all but eliminating any Soviet comeback hopes.

The Unites States’ fourth gold in track and field came when Kamy Keshmiri won the discus with a throw of 214 feet 7 inches.

In other events, Viorica Ghican of Romania won the women’s 10,000 meters in 31 minutes 46.43 seconds, the second fastest in the world this year; Ari Suhonen of Finland won the men’s 800 in 1:47.13; Igor Lapshin of the Soviet Union took the triple jump at 57-1, and Larisa Nikitina of the Soviet Union won the heptathlon with 6,847 points, a meet record.