August 16, 2003
Sophomore guard Antoine Wright scored 20 points to lead the Texas A&M basketball team to an 83-73 victory against Cuomo Basket Latina on Saturday in the first of five exhibition games on the Aggies's tour of Italy.
Wright, the 2003 Big 12 Conference Freshman of the Year, played primarily at point guard for the first time in his career. He addition to his team-leading point total, he added five assists and three steals with only one turnover against the Italian professional team.
"Antoine played well at the point," A&M coach Melvin Watkins said. "It was a very physical game and he was getting bumped every time he touched the ball."
The Aggies, who had not practiced since Tuesday in College Station, were sluggish at the start of the game and trailed, 23-13, at the end of the first quarter. Wright spurred a rally with eight second-quarter points the trim the lead to 44-39 at halftime.
A free throw by sophomore guard Marcus Watkins tied the game, 52-52, with 3:30 left in the third quarter before a three-pointer by senior Dylan Leal and a steal and a layup by senior Leandro Garcia-Morales gave the Aggies the lead for good.
"We hadn't played for a long time and it showed at the start of the game," Coach Watkins said. "That really didn't surprise me with all the traveling we've done the last couple of days. I was pleased we kept our concentration and when we got our legs under us, we were able to get the job done. It was a team effort and our guys did some things defensively to give us some energy."
Sophomore forward Luis Clemente, who redshirted last year, added 14 points in his unofficial debut for the Aggies, while senior forward Nick Anderson and senior guard Kevin Turner each scored nine pints. Senior center Andy Slocum pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds and scored six points.
Andrea Cempini led Cuomo Basket Latina wit 28 points, but scored just four in the second half.
The Aggies' next game is Tuesday against Giants Basket Marghera.
TEXAS A&M (83)
Anderson 4-9 1-2 9, Slocum 2-7 2-4 6, King 2-5 0-0 5, Turner 3-8 0-0 9, Wright 9-22 1-2 20, Brookhart 0-0 0-0 0, Clemente 6-9 0-0 2-4 14, Garcia-Morales 3-6 2-2 8,, Leal 2-3 0-0 6, Watkins 2-3 2-5 6,. Totals 33-72 10-19 83.
CUOMO BASKET LATINA (73) (points only)
Ragionieri 8, Cempini 28, Zen 2, Mlinar 2, Pagliari 8, Picazio 8, Antinori 2, Benini 3, Costa 0, Loriga 4, Binetti 8, Pappa 0, Cazzoli 0.
Three-Point Field Goals - A&M 7-16 (Turner 3-5, Leal 2-3, King 1-1, Wright 1-5), Cuomo 4. Halftime score - Cuomo Basket Latina 44, Texas A&M 39. Personal fouls - A&M 18, Cuomo 19. Fouled out - none. Rebounds - A&M 44 (Slocum 10). Assists - A&M 11 (Wright 5). Turnovers - A&M 13 (Garcia-Morales 4). Blocks - A&M 3 (Wright 2). Steals - A&M 9 (Wright 3, Garcia-Morales 3).
Texas A&M 13 26 21 23--83 Cuomo Latina 23 21 16 13--73