USA Trio Earns World University Games Honors
LAWRENCE, Kan. – USA men’s basketball guards Frank Mason III and Wayne Selden, Jr., and forward Perry Ellis were each named to the Eurobasket.com All-World University Games Awards 2015 released July 21.
Mason was selected the Finals MVP as he guided USA to the gold medal, while Selden was named the World University Games Best Player. Both guards were named to the five-member World University Games First Team, while Ellis was selected to the second team.
Mason scored 18 points with nine rebounds, six assists and two steals in the USA’s 84-77 double-overtime victory against Germany in the gold medal game on July 13. The Petersburg, Virginia, point guard made a pair of free throws with 21 seconds remaining to send the contest into its first overtime and a driving layup with nine seconds left to send the game to its second overtime. Down 77-75, Mason found Selden for a three-pointer to put the Americans up for good at 78-77 with just over a minute to play in the second extra period. He would later make two free throws to help seal the victory.
Selden ranked second in the World University Games with a 19.3 scoring average through eight games, while Mason was fifth with a 14.5 points per game. Selden led the USA team in scoring four times, including a team-high 22 points, along with nine rebounds, in the gold medal win against Germany. A Roxbury, Massachusetts native, Selden led USA with 18 three-pointers made in the game and tied Ellis for the team lead with 6.5 rebounds per contest. Mason led Games in assists with a 4.4 average and was third in steals with 2.5 per contest.
Ellis averaged 13.3 points per contest at the World University Games, which ranked 10th among the competitors. He posted his only double-double (19 points, 10 rebounds) of the competition in the gold medal contest against Germany.
Historically, Selden’s 154 points at the 2015 World University Games tied for third-most in USA history in the event with Juan Dixon who also had 154 in 2001. Mason’s 35 assists at the Games put him sixth on the USA all-time list and his 20 steals tied him for fourth with Randy Foye in 2005 and Allen Iverson in 1995.
USA won gold in the World University Games for the 14th time overall and its first since 2005. The medal was the first for USA in two games with its last being bronze in 2009.
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