Creighton University
Oleggio
Men's Basketball Opens Italy Tour With 119-47 Win
8/7/2015 5:11:00 PM | Men's Basketball
OLEGGIO, Italy – Six players scored in double-figures as the Creighton men's basketball team opened its three-game tour of Italy with a 119-47 victory at Oleggio on Friday night in a humid Palazzetto Dello Sport Gymnasium.
Oleggio scored the game's first basket before CU reeled off the next 15 points and never looked back while winning the first quarter, 35-9. Eight different men scored in the quarter for the Bluejays, led by six each from senior Geoffrey Groselle and junior newcomer Malik Albert.
The gymnasium scoreboard was reset to start each quarter, and the second stanza proved to be the lone 10-minute period that was close. In fact, the teams were tied in the final two minutes before CU pulled away with baskets from Justin Patton, Mo Watson Jr. and Cole Huff to win a 29-23 quarter and take a 64-32 lead into intermission.
Freshman Khyri Thomas and sophomore Toby Hegner combined for a 10-0 run as the Bluejays opened up a strong third quarter. Albert would help CU win the quarter 34-7 with 10 points, three rebounds and two blocked shots in the final five minutes of the third frame.
The Jays closed out the fourth quarter with a 21-9 victory as Thomas had six points and sophomore Tyler Clement had two of his game-high four steals.
Overall, Creighton placed six men in double-figures, led by 20 from Albert and 17 by Thomas. Freshman Martin Krampelj had 15 points and three steals in 15 minutes, while Hegner (13), Huff (13) and Groselle (11) each contributed 10 points or more. Watson paced CU with seven assists, while Thomas led the team with eight rebounds.
Creighton shot 48-of-87 on the day (55.2 percent) and outrebounded Oleggio 63-30. The Bluejays put up 72 points in the paint, 44 points while forcing 35 turnovers, 32 fast break points and 71 bench points.
Creighton will depart the Milan area on Saturday morning to spend a day in Venice before moving onto Florence for three days. CU's next game is August 11th at 2:15 pm Central when it takes on All-Star Rome.
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