August 21, 2003
Luis Clemente scored 26 points and Antoine Wright added 24 to lead the Texas A&M basketball team to a 119-68 exhibition victory against Basket San Daniele here Thursday night.
The Aggies, 3-0 on their five-game tour of Italy, jumped out to an early 8-3 lead, but San Daniele came back to tie the game at 16-16 with four minutes left in the first quarter.
Marcus Watkins scored seven of A&M's next nine points, then Clemente scored three consecutive field goals to hand the Aggies a 31-18 lead at the end of the first period. The Aggies went on to take a 58-36 halftime lead.
A&M dominated the second half en route to its second straight 51-point victory. Wright scored 13 in the final quarter, including a pair of thundering slam dunks that drew ovations from the Italian crowd.
"We played well in spurts but we know we have a long way to go," A&M assistant coach Bobby Kummer said. "We played well as a team and made some good plays. The guys are playing hard and that's what we want to see."
Six Aggies scored in double figures, with Clemente adding a game-high 12 rebounds. Also scoring in double figures were Jesse King and Andy Slocum with 14 points, and Leandro Garcia-Morales and Marcus Watkins with 13 points. Slocum tagged on 10 rebounds while Garcia-Morales handed out a team-high six assists.
Matteo Pagotto led San Daniele with 12 points.
The Aggies' next game will be Saturday in Castelletto.