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It was a great weekend to be an American. We celebrated the 239th birthday of our country, won a women's World Cup, and our own Caleb Swanigan helped the U-19 men's basketball team bring home gold from Greece. Croatia, whom the U.S. beat handily in the group stage, pushed the American to overtime in the gold medal game today, but the Americans won 79-71 in the extra session.
Swanigan only played a little more than 10 minutes in the final. He had 2 points and a rebound on 1 of 3 shooting as he was barely used. Still, he helped bring home gold, and this was the official Purdue release on him:
For the second straight year, Caleb Swanigan has helped USA Basketball to a world title in the FIBA World Championships, aiding the United States to a U19 World Championship with a 79-71 overtime win over Croatia.
Swanigan finished with two points and one rebound in 10 minutes of action as the United States outscored Croatia, 12-4, in the extra session to grab the 79-71 victory. It marked the second time that team USA defeated Croatia in the tournament as it concluded the event with a 7-0 record.
It marks the second straight year that Swanigan helped Team USA to a World Championship as he was part of the U17 team that won the 2014 World Championship.
Swanigan finished the tournament by averaging 6.1 PPG and 4.4 RPG in 14.0 minutes per game. He shot 15-of-25 (.600) from the field, all coming on two-point attempts, and was 13-of-20 (.650) from the free throw line. He also contributed five blocked shots, four assists and three steals. He tied for sixth on the team in scoring and fifth in rebounding despite playing the eighth-most minutes on the squad.
Swanigan's best outing came in a Group A victory over Egypt, when he scored 13 points with six rebounds and two assists. He also had seven points and 12 rebounds in a quarterfinals win over Italy.