LONDON -- The men's basketball team left Raleigh-Durham International Airport Friday afternoon, heading across the Atlantic Ocean to compete Sunday and Monday in the International Challenge Series at the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in London. After playing four games in two days against three different European club teams, the Blue Devils had compiled a 3-1 record, gained valuable experience-particularly their freshmen-and grown together as a team.
"We had a young group and it was challenging," junior captain 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."
In a grueling two-day stretch, the Blue Devils played four games: two in the afternoon and two at night. Each game was played according to International Basketball Federation rules, and consisted of four 10-minute quarters.
Duke played the London Towers in both night matches, winning the second 89-70 after losing the first 94-84. Sunday afternoon, the Blue Devils beat Racing Basket Antwerpen 96-71, and Monday afternoon, they took out the Brighton Bears 93-85.
"As far as the team goes, we got a lot out of [the trip]," sophomore guard Daniel Ewing said. "We learned some things about ourselves--things you can't tell in practice, like playing under pressure and how to come back."
In Game Four, for the first time all tournament, Duke came out strong as it closed out the road trip with a 89-70 victory over the London Towers.
Playing their fourth game in less than 48 hours, the Blue Devils gave up the first points--a three-pointer to Towers forward Chad Wilkerson--before going on a 9-0 run that was capped off by a freshman 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 the Towers' momentum.
Duke then went on a quick 9-3 run and took a nine-point lead into the locker room--a lead the Blue Devils would sustain for the rest of the contest as they held on for the win.
"We played hard, which is the very first requirement to play well in anything," head coach Mike Krzyzewski said.
During Monday afternoon's game, Daniel Ewing nailed a technical foul shot after British Basketball League bad boy Rico Alderson was whistled for an infraction, and Nick Horvath hit a long range two-point jumper from the top of the key as Duke rallied from a 22-point deficit to beat the Bears.
The technical foul was one of four in the game for the Bears, including the second from Alderson, who was once suspended from the BBL for 15 games after a serious on-court altercation.
"I don't know how to respond to it," Brighton coach Nick Nurse said. "All the f---ing referees did was call fouls all the time. You can only get five and you're out and we had everybody on four."
Only a minute after losing their power forward, the Bears found themselves without ex-Tulane Green Wave Sterling Davis. Davis was ejected for arguing with ACC referee Mike Wood after being told to be quiet.
With Duke leading 80-78 at the time, the Blue Devils used the call to put the game away as Ewing, who scored 13 points in the fourth quarter alone, sank both shots, and, on the ensuing possession, Shelden Williams found the ball inside, muscled his way up, hit a layup and drew the foul.
"For us it was basically an American game," Krzyzewski said. "The physicality of the game knocked us back some and both teams fought like crazy."
The night before, 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 run that they rode to a 94-84 win over Duke
"It was a good, hard fought game," 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.
"I told my assistant coaches that I'm taking my wife out to dinner tonight and they can coach Game 4," 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' first game of the trip came as the rest of the college basketball world woke up fresh off another round of Midnight Madness. While other NCAA teams were tipping off the season's first practice, Duke's season was getting underway, as the Blue Devils beat Racing Basket Antwerpen by 25 points Sunday afternoon.
After a rough first quarter in which Duke was outscored 27-19, the Blue Devils bounced back behind senior Dahntay Jones' sharp shooting and tight defense. Jones, who lead Duke with 21 points, drained a pair of threes from the right corner within 16 seconds of each other to cap off a 26-7 run and give the Blue Devils a 45-34 lead.
Duke would never relinquish the lead, holding the top team in the Belgium League to only nine points in the second quarter.
"I thought we played with a lot of enthusiasm," Krzyzewski said. "We gave up 27 points in the first 10 minutes and only 44 in the next 30. We began charging down balls and we started playing defense. We should be a good defensive team--we have a lot of depth and athleticism."
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