University of Georgia Athletics
Wilkins' 18 Points Helps U.S. To Pan Am Bronze
July 25, 2015 | Men's Basketball
TORONTO --- Damien Wilkins scored 18 points to help lead the United States National Team to an 87-82 win over the Dominican Republic in the bronze medal matchup of the Pan Am Games on Saturday.
Wilkins made 7-of-11 shots from the field, including his only 3-point attempt, and was 3-of-3 from the line. He also grabbed five rebounds, collected two steals and blocked two shots in 33 minutes of action.
The Americans returned to the court less than 15 hours after their disappointing overtime loss to Canada in the semifinals and started slowly. The Dominican Republic led 26-15 following the first quarter and pushed its advantage to 13 points at halftime.
The U.S. trimmed the margin to single digits at 68-59 through three quarters and opened the fourth quarter on a 19-7 run. Wilkins capped the surge with a 3-point play at the 4:03 mark that gave the Americans their first lead of the day at 78-75.
A Wilkins putback with 1:05 left put the U.S. up for good, 83-81.
Wilkins, the oldest member of the team at 35, was making his international debut representing the U.S. Over the five-game tournament, he averaged 13.2 points while shooting 54.8 percent from the floor, 75.0 percent from 3-point range and 70.8 percent from the line. Wilkins also chipped in 5.0 rebounds in 25.4 minutes per game.
Wilkins was a two-year letterwinner for the Bulldogs in 2002-03 and 2003-04 and was co-captain his senior season. In 2004, he made the Seattle SuperSonics' as an undrafted free agent and eventually played nine seasons in the NBA with five franchies – Seattle/Oklahoma City, Minnesota, Atlanta, Detroit and Philadelphia. Wilkins has played in the NBA's D-League, China and Puerto Rico during the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons.
