NAPLES, Italy -- Clemson University men’s basketball, representing USA Team during the 2019 World University Games, defeated Finland in its pool play opener, 69-65.

Aamir Simms lead the way for the United States with 17 points on 7-for-16 shooting en route to a double-double with a team-high 13 rebounds.

Tevin Mack reached double-figures for the Red, White and Blue with 10 points.

Alex Hemenway finished with 10 points off the bench for the United States. Hemenway, with quite possibly the play of the night and with the score knotted at 63-all and 44 seconds remaining, knocked down a deep 3-pointer while being fouled and hit the free throw to give the U.S. a 67-63 advantage and help seal a victory.

The Hemenway four-point play capped an 11-0 scoring run for the United States. They trailed 63-57 before engineering the game sealing run.

Al-Amir Dawes finished with nine and Hunter Tyson tallied five.

The United States finished with 13 assists and 10 steals, while forcing Finland to commit 21 turnovers.

NAPLES, Italy ––  The United States jumped out to an 11-1 advantage early in the first quarter, held that same 11-point lead after the third quarter and was able to hang on for a one-point victory to move to 2-0 in pool play.

John Newman III led the United States with a game-high 18 points on 7-for-14 shooting from the floor. Newman finished with five rebounds and six fouls drawn – a game-high.

Behind Newman’s output, Hunter Tyson drilled five 3-pointers and finished with 15 points while also grabbing six rebounds.

After taking a two-point lead into halftime, the United States opened the second half on a 10-1 run to lead 46-35 halfway through the third quarter. The USA led by as many as 12 midway through the fourth quarter and gutted out the victory.

The United States will play China tomorrow evening at 5:30 p.m. local Italian time (11:30 a.m. ET) for its final game of pool play.