Damien Wilkins Leads US Passport Rico in Pan Am Games

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Damien Wilkins Leads US Passport Rico in Pan Am Games

“Damien Wilkins 76ers” by Keith Allison – Flickr: Damien Wilkins. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
[su_spacer size=”20″] Damien Wilkins scored 15 first-half points as the United States opened up a 65-29 lead en route to a 102-70 victory over Puerto Rico in the Pan Am Games on Wednesday.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Wilkins, who scored the first four points for the U.S. in its Tuesday victory over Venezuela, started quickly once again against Puerto Rico. He scored seven of the first nine points for the Americans over the game’s opening 3:44.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Wilkins played sparingly after the intermission. He connected on 5-of-8 field goal attempts, including his only 3-pointer, and 4-of-5 free throws and also had four rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Over two games, Wilkins is the leading scorer for the U.S. at 18.0 ppg and has done so in extremely efficient fashion. He has made 11-of-18 (.611) of his field goal attempts, 2-of-2 3-pointers and 12-of-18 (.667) trips to the free throw line.
[su_spacer size=”40″] With the victory, the U.S. clinched a spot in Friday’s semifinals. The Americans will wrap up Group A pool play by facing Brazil at 9 p.m. ET. Brazil also is 2-0 in Group A. Friday’s winner will face the second-place team from Group B, while the loser will take on the top team from the opposite pool.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Wilkins played for Georgia in the early-2000s and went on to a nine-year NBA career with five franchises. He played in China and Puerto Rico during the 2013-14 season before averaging 20.2 points per game for the Iowa Energy of the NBA D-League the past winter.

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