June 28, 1999

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) - UNC center Brendan Haywood had 15 points and five rebounds as the U.S. World University Games team won 94-93 over a collection of former Ohio college players at the University of Dayton Arena.

University of Cincinnati forward Kenyon Martin scored the winning basket with five seconds left and finished with 17 points.

Ohio State point guard Scoonie Penn dished out a team-high nine assists and finished with six points.

If the U.S. squad wants to bring home the gold medal next month, it's going to have to step up its defense, according to head coach Oliver Purnell.

"We don't have time to become a well-oiled machine on offense," said Purnell. "We have to improve our team defense. That's our ticket."

"We just need to work on a few things, like not turning the ball over so much, getting better shots and rebounding the ball," Martin said.

Purnell said his team did not have a defensive focus until the end of the game when it had to stop its opponent.

"We still have a long way to go to come together as a team," said Purnell.

The U.S. team led the entire first half and was ahead 49-47 at the break. In the second half, the Vagabonds, which featured former college players Mark Baker (Ohio State), Thad Burton (Wright State), Ryan Perryman (Dayton), Darnell Hoskins (Dayton) and Bobby Brannen (Cincinnati), pushed their opponents the entire 20 minutes.

The Vagabonds led 93-92 with 19.5 seconds remaining after Hoskins made one of two foul shots. The U.S. team answered with a basket by Martin, and Hoskins' desperation 3-pointer from half court missed.

"We gave them a run for their money," said Hoskins. "It was a lot of fun. They're definitely a talented group."

Penn said he doubts that the U.S. team will play a more individually talented group at the World University Games. But he doesn't expect the competition to be easier.

"I think we'll run into teams that are better because they've played together for years," said Penn.

The 12-member squad heads to Palma de Mallorca off the coast of Spain for the world games on Tuesday and is scheduled to begin play Saturday, against South Korea.