LONDON -- Former Virginia Commonwealth star Kendrick Warren
scored eight points in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter helping the London Towers open the second half with a 10-2 that
they rode to a 94-84 win over the men's basketball team in the
second game of the International Challenge Series Sunday night
at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in southwest London. "It was a good, hard fought game," men's basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "I'm proud of
the team. I thought they played hard in both games and overall it
was a really great day."
After taking a 68-62 lead into the final quarter, Duke had problems
finding the bottom of the basket, scoring only seven points in the
first 7 1/2 minutes of the final quarter
Meanwhile, the Towers caught fire. Following Warren's streak,
London played stellar defense, holding Duke to only one Daniel
Ewing three pointer in the next two minutes of play. Then, with 5:40 left in the game, Sean Dockery grabbed a
loose ball and was poised for a break away before he was
whistled for a grabbing foul.
The call caused Krzyzewski to lose his temper and after arguing
with the referee for 30 seconds, he was hit with a technical. One of
the British Basketball League's premier players and former St.
Joseph's guard Terrell Myers drained both free throws giving
London a solid 80-73 lead.
"[The technical] had no affect what so ever," said Dahntay Jones,
who admitted that getting another crack at London tomorrow night
was some consolation to losing. "It's just two points and it didn't
really change the score."
Save a J.J. Redick jumper, Duke was unable to score for another
three-plus minutes and when it did finally try to make a last minute
comeback it was too little too late. In the end, the Blue Devils were
only able to score several junk free throws thanks to sloppy play on
London's part.
"We want to win all the time and we put tremendous pressure on,"
said Krzyzewski who also said that his team had only practiced
together 10 days and was also tired from jet lag and an afternoon
game. He stopped mid thought however, saying that he "didn't
want to make excuses."
Just like Game 1, the Blue Devils continued their slow-start theme, scoring only 10 points in the first 5 1/2 minutes and trailing by as many as nine at one point.
However, a Casey Sanders blocked shot sparked a 10-0 run that
last through the rest of the first quarter and put the Blue Devils within one with 30 minutes still to play.
In the second and third period, Duke was fueled offensively by a
pair of freshman--Shavlik Randolph and Redick--and Jones, who
again led the Blue Devils with 21 points. Randolph, who fouled out
with seven minutes left, had 15 points including a running NBA
style dunk from the wing that he caught off a leaping, on-the-fly
Sean Dockery pass.
Redick, meanwhile, nailed a duo of treys from identical spots before just missing a third that rattled out of the whole. The
Roanoke, Va., native had 13 points, shooting 5-of-14 from the floor.
"I told my assistant coaches that I'm taking my wife out to dinner
tonight night and they can coach the game," said Towers head
David Lindstroem. "I might as well be able to tell my grandkids that I was 1-0 against Coach K."
The Blue Devils get a longer rest this time before playing Game 3
of a four-game set tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. British Summer Time
against the Brighton Bears. Duke will play the London Towers
again tomorrow night.
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