PARIS – Chants of “U-S-A” bellowed through Bercy Arena, as time ticked away on a late fourth quarter possession for the U.S. squad. Its lead down to just four points, star Jake Williams caught a pass just inside the arc and immediately floated up a ceiling scraping shot which, when it fell through the nylon, gave the U.S. a six point advantage. That bucket would spur an 11-2 run that finally put away a Spain team that gave the United States everything it could handle.

“It was surreal hearing the Team USA chants throughout the gym. Obviously we watched our Men’s (Olympic) team a couple of weeks ago win too, and those chants happened throughout this arena, so that was surreal,” said Williams.

The squads traded baskets in the early going, with the score at 4-4 two minutes in. Quickly, the U.S. managed to gain some separation. The U.S. cashed in off consecutive Spanish turnovers with back to back threes from Jake Williams, and forced a quick timeout from Its opponent. Williams dominated ball handling duties along with Captain Steve Serio throughout the contest. The U.S. would push the lead to six two more times throughout the quarter, but Spain always managed to hang tough. The Spaniards finished the quarter on a 7-2 run thanks to strong rebounding and passing from Ignacio Ortega and Manuel Lorenzo, as well as a late three from guard Jordi Ruiz, which put the deficit at one heading into the 2nd.

While the first quarter was defined by spurts, the second quarter was much more back and forth. Neither team could stretch the lead past three in the seesaw period.  For Spain the damage was done on the inside, especially by Alejandro Zarzuela. The 37-year-old, playing in his fourth Paralympics, scored six points off layups and foul shots. This exposed what could be the USA’s biggest weakness: a lack of size compared to many other teams in the field. The United States relied on strong passing and quick buckets to keep the Spanish at bay. Serio and Williams, specifically, delivered a couple of beautiful high low feeds that led to buckets for Trevon Jenifer.

“We’ve been together for a long time, ever since 2013, so we know each other very well. We know where we are gonna be at the right time and they are able to give me the ball at the right time,” said Brian Bell, who scored 10 points, many on similar passes from Williams and Serio.

Many of the USA’s baskets came after three to five passes, showing the unit’s continuity. For the first time in the game, the second quarter saw the Spanish take a lead, they did so on a Jordi Ruiz jumper which made it 23-22. The quarter was much more physical than the first, especially in the last two minutes when just one bucket was scored by either team. A Williams jump shot, which got the U.S. a 32-29 lead, a score that would stand into the half. Williams’ domination was certainly a theme: he led all scorers with 22 points.

Early on in the third frame it seemed as if the U.S. was finally going to pull away. Serio started the half with four points and an assist to get the lead to nine points for the United States. The five-time Paralympian was a dominant floor general throughout the night, racking up a triple double with 12 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists. The strong performance included a couple of emphatic and-1 finishes from Serio. USA’s Jorge Salazar, who played sparingly in the first, was important to the strong start to the second half. The team’s only military veteran provided strong interior defense that had previously been lacking. Spain wasn’t helping matters with a very tough start from the field. The Spanish had just three points in the half’s first six minutes of play. Still, as was often the case, Spain hung around. The team’s traded buckets to end the third quarter, leaving the score at 46-40 entering the final slice of game play.

“They’re a tough team, they’re big, they have a lot of speed as well…Tough team, they’re gonna battle us every single time we play them. They are a lot bigger than us so we just gotta use our speed a little bit more, push them out. But, yeah, every team here is gonna give us their best shot,” said Bell.

Helping keep the deficit in single digits into the fourth were buckets in the paint from both Lorenzo and Zarzuela, who combined for 18 points on shots taken mostly from the low blocks. Many of those scores came from great passes by Ortega, who led the team with six assists and 17 points. Ortega started the fourth with a bang: his left wing three got Spain just a possession away from a tie, down just 46-43. That would be as close as the Spanish would get. After some back-and-forth action, and the aforementioned heroic shot from Williams, the U.S. cruised through the end of the final quarter with a ten-point win.

In the end, the duo of Jake Willams’ shot making and Steve Serio’s leadership proved too much for a Spain team that has never achieved more than a silver medal at the games. The USA’s precision was a deciding factor, it shot 45% from the field compared to Spain’s mark, which was just 37%. After the physical bout, the USA gets back in action Sunday against the Netherlands, that game tips off at 10:30 a.m. French time.