LONDON -- For the first time all tournament, the men's basketball team came
out strong as they closed out their grueling four-game roadtrip with a
89-70 victory over the London Towers in the final match of the
International Challenge Series Monday night at the Crystal Palace National
Sports Centre in London.
Playing their fourth game in 48 hours, the Blue Devils gave up the first
points--a three to Towers' forward Chad Wilkerson--before going on a 9-0 run capped off by a freshmen tandem alley-oop from Sean Dockery to Michael
Thompson.
From then on, Duke cruised, taking a 12-point lead by the end of the first
quarter. The Blue Devils lost their grip slightly as London pulled within
three with 3:01 left in the first half thanks to the short lived hot hand
of London star Kendrick Warren.
However Lee Melchionni buried two free throws, and on the subsequent,
possession Casey Sanders took a Wilkerson charge to kill London's
momentum.
Duke then went on a quick 9-3 and took a nine point lead into the locker
room.
"We played hard, which is the very first requirement to play well in
anything," head coach Mike Krzyzewski said.
In the second half, particularly the fourth quarter, both teams used their
starters sparingly--a move both coaches had said they would make in the
previous night's press conference.
After a third quarter that saw Thompson foul out with 2:48 to go, the
Blue Devils opened the fourth, converting a successful set play that
involved tipping the ball to Dockery as Sanders ran down court and caught
his long pass for the open dunk.
"This was a great night for Casey," Krzyzewski said of is senior who
scored 12 points. "He should leave here feeling good because he had not
been playing as well as we thought he was going to play, until now....
That was great dunk, and Sean threw a good pass, too."
Near the end of the game, J.J. Redick demonstrated his famous sharp
shooting swishing a three from near the half court line and killing any
chance of a Towers' comeback.
"As far as the team goes, we got a lot out of [the trip]," Ewing said. "We
learned some things about ourselves--things you can't tell like playing
under pressure and how to comeback."
Nick Horvath and Shavlik Randolph did not play this game due to very minor
injuries the Blue Devil coaching staff did not feel were worth the risk.
Krzyzewski said that Horvath's shoulder was aggravating him and that
Randolph had tweaked his ankle in warmups.
"We had a young group and it was challenging," Chris Duhon said. "Just our
style of play, up and down for two days, guys stuck it out and I think we
showed a lot of heart."
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