Pearl wins gold
From Staff ReportsOriginally published: July 23. 2009 3:01AM
Last modified: July 22. 2009 11:28PM
NETANYA, Israel — Tennessee head coach Bruce Pearl fulfilled one of his professional dreams Wednesday, as he led Maccabi USA’s Open Men’s Basketball Team to a gold medal with a 95-86 overtime triumph over Israel at the 18th World Maccabiah Games.
Dan Grunfeld, son of two-time Tennessee All-America Ernie Grunfeld (1973-77), scored a game-high 25 points Wednesday.
Grunfeld converted a three-point play with 20.7 seconds left in regulation to tie the game. He then paced the Americans with six points in overtime en route to earning MVP honors.
“This is one of the highlights of my career,” Pearl said. “I’m proud to be an American, and I want to say thanks to the Tennessee fans for understanding what these Games mean to me and for encouraging me to coach this team.”
Pearl said he will begin recruiting again upon his return to the United States this morning.
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