US beats Iran 106-55 at world junior basketball championships

US opens with win at under-19 worlds

AUCKLAND, New Zealand — The United States started its bid for its first world junior title in 18 years with a 106-55 win over Iran on the opening day of the FIBA under-19 world basketball championships on Thursday.

Shooting guard Tyshawn Taylor scored 13 points for the United States, which last won the world tournament at Edmonton, Alberta, in 1991.

Point guard Seth Curry, son of former NBA star Dell Curry and brother of first-round draft pick Stephen Curry, had 12 points while power forward John Shurna scored 11 points and had 10 rebounds.

The U.S. started slowly and trailed 10-8 after five minutes, then went on a big run to lead 30-13 at the end of the first quarter and 55-27 at halftime.

In other games, Matias Nocedal scored 21 points as Argentina beat New Zealand 66-64. Jorge Santana had 16 points and Julio Sosa had 12 points and eight rebounds as Spain opened with a 79-53 win over Syria. Vlantimir Giankovits had 20 points and Nikolaos Pappas 18 as Greece beat Angola 101-58.

Isaac Sosa had 18 points and five rebounds to pace Puerto Rico’s 80-73 win over Lithuania. Toni Prostran scored 23 points as Croatia beat Kazakhstan 104-74. Christophe Leonard had 20 points in France’s 102-56 win over Egypt and Cody Ellis scored 25 points as Australia beat Canada 88-77.