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Gonzaga University Athletics

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Hunter Lee

Men's Basketball

Several Zags to Play in FIBA U19 World Cup

Arlauskas, Ayayi, Ballo and Petrusev represent countries at event

SPOKANE, Wash. –  The Gonzaga men's basketball team will have solid representation at the FIBA Under-19 World Cup beginning Saturday on the Greek Island of Crete. Current Zags Joel Ayayi (France) and Filip Petrusev (Serbia), and incoming Bulldogs Martynas Arlauskas (Lithuania) and Oumar Ballo (Mali) will represent their respective countries.
 
The 16-team tournament will be played in Heraklion, Greece, Saturday through July 7. The event begins with group phase play Saturday through Tuesday, followed by bracket play July 3-7. Every game will be available live on FIBA's YouTube page.
 
Petrusev guides Serbia into the tournament. Last summer, Petrusev helped Serbia win their second straight title at the FIBA U-18 European Championships. He had 29 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists in the Final and finished third in the tournament in scoring and rebounds, with 22.3 points and 8.7 boards per game respectively. The upcoming sophomore at GU made nearly 61 percent of his shots from the field and 79.5 percent of his free throws.
 
Serbia starts the quest for the title against China on Saturday and will follow that with a game against Puerto Rico a day later before taking on France on July 2 in their Group D finale.
 
Ayayi led France to a third place finish at last summer's U-18 European Championships, after falling to Serbia in the semifinals. He averaged 15.7 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.7 steals in the tournament. Ayayi made 50 percent of his shots and nearly 35 percent of his 3-pointers. He scored 22 points in a 79-70 win over Russia in the third place game.
 
Ayayi and Petrusev were named to the All-Star Five at the U18 European tournament last summer.
 
Arlauskas averaged 9.4 points, 3.7 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.7 steals at the FIBA U16 European Championship 2016, where Lithuania lost to Spain in the Final to finish second.
 
Ballo helped Mali clinch their first-ever title at the FIBA U18 African Championship last summer at home, booking their third ticket to the U19 World Cup and second straight. In addition to helping Mali win the U18 African crown, Ballo also was named to the All-Star Five as Mali claimed the title at the FIBA U16 African Championship 2017 - the country's first trophy at that age group which gave them back-to-back appearances at the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup.
 
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Players Mentioned

Joel Ayayi

#11 Joel Ayayi

Guard
6' 5"
Redshirt Freshman
Filip Petrusev

#3 Filip Petrusev

Forward
6' 11"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Joel Ayayi

#11 Joel Ayayi

6' 5"
Redshirt Freshman
Guard
Filip Petrusev

#3 Filip Petrusev

6' 11"
Freshman
Forward