Olympics: Provo's Maka Unufe propels U.S. rugby sevens to win over Spain, ninth-place finish

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Rio de Janeiro • Maka Unufe capped off his Rio experience in memorable fashion.

The Provo High product scored the go-ahead try for the U.S. rugby sevens squad Thursday afternoon against Spain in the ninth-place match, propelling the Americans to a 24-12 win at Deodoro Stadium.

Unufe broke a 12-12 deadlock with less than three minutes remaining in the second half, putting the U.S. up, 17-12. Teammate Chris Wyles later added the conversion to put the U.S. up seven over the Spaniards. With 20 seconds left and the victory in hand, Carlin Isles tacked on five more points for the Americans with his scored try. Isles scored two tries to lead the U.S.

Unufe, a one-time high school football star from Provo, played the final five minutes of the last match Team USA had in Rio de Janeiro. In Wednesday's matchup with No. 1-ranked Fiji, the U.S. hung tight with the best rugby sevens squad in the world, but lost 24-19 in its final match of group play, eliminating the Americans from medal contention.

Unufe and Team USA bounced back in its placement match against Brazil, beating the hosts 24-12 to advance to Thursday's ninth-place outing against Spain. After scoring his first-ever try in the Olympics in a 26-0 rout of Brazil in group play on Tuesday night, Unufe said he was enthralled by his entire experience thus far in Brazil.

He beamed over the Opening Ceremony experience and getting to meet NBA stars when the rugby sevens squad watched the likes of Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving practice last week.

The 24-year-old, who is the father of three, spoke proudly earlier this week of being part of the first American rugby sevens team to challenge powerhouse nations on the Olympic stage.

"A lot of people look down on us because we're the U.S.," Unufe said. "It's a new rugby game to us. We're not supposed to be good at it. That's the best part."