SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic -- The U.S. men's basketball team was 85 seconds from leaving the Pan American Games without a medal.

	USA's Andre Barrett, left, and teammate Brandon Mouton celebrate their last-second victory.

While the Americans are not guaranteed a top-three finish, three free throws and a key defensive stop gave them a thrilling 74-72 victory over Uruguay on Monday -- and renewed hope for gold.

"The guys didn't want to come down here for nothing,'' Arthur Johnson said after leading the U.S. squad with 17 points. "We all just buckled down and did what it takes to win the ballgame, because we knew playing the way we were playing, it would have been an empty trip for us.''

The Americans trailed 72-71 with 1:25 left. Johnson made one of two free throws with 1:07 left, and his Missouri teammate, Rickey Paulding, sank one with 33.6 seconds remaining to give his team the lead.

With 16.3 seconds left, Stanford's Josh Childress grabbed a Uruguay miss, but was tied up, and the possession arrow favored the South Americans. Alejandro Muro then had the ball near midcourt when Seton Hall's Andre Barrett grabbed it, forcing another held ball and giving the U.S. team a key turnover.

"I saw him bring the ball down and that's right at my level. I was low enough already,'' the 5-foot-10 Barrett said. "All I did was tie up the ball and snatch it from him.''

Paulding added another free throw, and Uruguay's final attempt missed at the buzzer.

Uruguay, led by Nicolas Mazzarino's 23 points, never trailed until early in the fourth quarter.

Monday's win put the Americans into the medals round after three games that went down to the wire. In its previous two games, the U.S. squad beat Argentina 80-79 and lost to Puerto Rico 86-85. The Puerto Ricans won the group and also advanced. Brazil defeated the Dominican Republic 92-77 Monday night to win its group.

The U.S. men will face Brazil on Tuesday night, and Puerto Rico will take on the host team, and its raucous crowds, in the second semifinal.

The United States has medaled in men's basketball in every Pan Am Games except in 1971, when it was eliminated in group play on point differential.

Hours earlier, Jamie Carey of Texas scored 20 points and made all six of her 3-pointers to lead the U.S. women to a 77-64 upset of Brazil.

The Brazilians have four former WNBA players, while the Americans are all college players. The United States used a swarming, half-court defense to hold Brazil to 21-of-52 shooting from the floor and forced 21 turnovers, including three shot-clock violations.

"This was by far the best game since we've been together,'' coach Debbie Ryan said. "We played great team defense today.''

The Americans (2-1), trailed 44-32 at halftime, but opened the third quarter with an 8-0 run. They also closed the period by scoring eight straight points to take a 56-52 lead into the fourth quarter.

Rebekkah Brunson of Georgetown sat out most of the first half after being whistled for two quick fouls, but sparked the second-half comeback by scoring all 13 of her points.

The United States stretched its lead in medals to 27-16 over Cuba. The Americans have nine golds, 11 silvers and seven bronzes. Cuba has 12 golds and four bronzes.

Two more American teenagers starred Monday. Chellsie Memmel, 15, of West Allis, Wis., edged 13-year-old Nastia Liukin of Plano, Texas, for the all-around women's gymnastics gold. Memmel is the first U.S. double gold winner, also getting gold with the American team on Saturday.

The women's water polo team, fresh from winning the world championship, got five goals each from Margie Dingeldein of Stanford and Heather Moody of San Diego State and routed Puerto Rico 20-2. The Americans scored the first seven goals.

Not to be outdone, the U.S. men beat Puerto Rico 14-2.