Creighton University
Real Deal Shockers (Ex.)
Basketball Closes Bahamas Trip Unbeaten After 104-53 Victory
8/16/2011 10:32:00 PM | Men's Basketball
NASSAU, Bahamas - Creighton made its first seven shots from the floor and never looked back while claiming a lopsided 103-54 victory over the Real Deal Shockers on Tuesday evening at Kendal Isaacs National Gymnasium.
The victory closed out Creighton's four-game exhibition tour, which is allowed by NCAA rules once every four years. The Bluejays won all four games by double-digits, outscoring foes by an average of 98.8 - 71.2 per contest. In addition, Creighton outrebounded teams by 22.8 rebounds per outing and averaged 17.3 more assists per game than the opposition.
In tonight's game, Creighton went with a starting five of one sophomore and four true freshmen. The Jays led 9-5 early on before an impressive 23-0 run sealed the deal against the Shockers, going up 32-5 after one quarter of play. Creighton got nine points in the quarter from Doug McDermott, while Avery Dingman had eight points, including the Jays first five of the game. Nine different men would score in the first quarter, and Austin Chatman helped run the show by dishing four assists in his initial five minutes on the court.
Creighton didn't shoot it nearly as well in the second quarter, but the Shockers scored only 11 more points in the second stanza thanks in part to 2-of-12 shooting from the charity stripe by intermission. The Jays led 49-16 at the break.
Creighton rotated line-ups liberally throughout the second half and consistently had fast break opportunities against a tired Real Deal squad. Dingman finished with 11 of his game-high 24 points in the fourth quarter, while Antoine Young had six assists after half while playing the role of distributor.
Creighton surpassed the century mark with 49 seconds left on a Dingman three-pointer, and capped the scoring in the final seconds when "The Godfather" Ross Ferrarini swished a triple to wrap the resounding 104-53 triumph.
Creighton was paced by 24 from Dingman, who made 7-of-9 shots and hit 5-of-6 from three-point range in just 20 minutes. Will Artino had 17 points and 11 rebounds for his second double-double of the trip. Also in double-figures were McDermott (15) and Young (12, to go with eight assists).
The Jays shot 49.4 percent from the field (38-77) for the game, including 8-of-20 from downtown and 20-of-31 at the line.
For the trip, Creighton was led in scoring by McDermott, who averaged 24.3 points per game on 66.1 shooting from the floor and 87.5 percent marksmanship from the line in just 21.0 minutes per game. McDermott also finished second on the club with 9.8 rebuonds per game. Redshirt freshman Artino averaged a double-double, averaging 10.3 points and 11.0 rebounds per contest. Third on the team in scoring was another freshman, Dingman, who scored 9.0 points per game.
Freshman Geoffrey Groselle had a team-best 10 blocked shots on the trip and was third with 30 rebounds in four games. Yet another freshman, Chatman, topped the team with 30 assists on the trip, just ahead of 2010-11 MVC assist leader Antoine Young's 23 helpers in four contests.
Creighton returns to the court on October 14th for the start of fall practice before hosting its lone exhibition game on Nov. 6 vs. Rockhurst. The team returns to Omaha late Wednesday evening.
