Nov. 5, 2003
Notre Dame, Ind. – Chris Thomas and Torrian Jones combined for 45 points to lead the Notre Dame men’s basketball team to an 88-76 win over Coaches vs. Cancer Team Dasani in the first of its two exhibition contests.
Torin Francis recorded the games only double double as he finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds, while Chris Quinn added 12 points to round out the double-figure scoring. Thomas also dished off nine assists and grabbed five rebounds, while only turning the ball over once.
Notre Dame’s starting five -Francis, Tom Timmermans, Thomas, Quinn and Jones – each played more than 30 minutes in the contest. Thomas and Jones each logged 38 minutes, while Francis, Quinn and Thomas played 37, 33 and 31, respectively.
Quinn was extremely efficient in his 33 minutes on the floor as he finished with four assists, three rebounds and two rebounds, while committing just one turnover.
Tony Robertson, a former standout at the University of Connecticut, led four CVC Team Dasani in double figures as he scored 18 points, Mike Campbell finished with 14, while Harold Arcenaux and Damien Kinlock netted 10 points.
Notre Dame shot 47.0 percent from the field, hitting 31 of its 66 attempts, while the visitors connected on 50 percent of their field goal attempts. The Irish shot 54.5 percent from three-point range (12-22), with Thomas nailing five of his seven attempts and Quinn hitting on four of his nine attempts. Freshman Russell Carter hit back-to-back three-pointers in the final minute of the first half to help the Irish gain a 55-45 halftime advantage.
CVC Team Dasani jumped out to an early five-point lead (11-6) 5:03 into the first half, but a 14-4 run over a five-minute stretch gave the Irish a 20-15 advantage. The visitors were able to cut the lead to 24-23 with 8:43 remaining, but Notre Dame finished the half by outscoring CVC Team Dasani 21-12.
The Irish led by as many as 16 on three occasions in the second. Notre Dame grabbed a 60-44 advantage with 14:38 to play, but the visitors slowly chipped away at the lead and trimmed the margin to six points (73-67) with just over five minutes to play in the contest. Notre Dame, however, outscored the visitors 15-6 to finish the game for the final 12-point margin of victory.
The Irish owned a 40-32 advantage on the boards. In addition to Francis’ 12 boards, Timmermans grabbed 10, while Jones hauled in eight.
Notre Dame plays its final exhibition game on Friday, November 14 against the Illinois All-Stars. Tip-off is scheduled for 9:00 p.m. The season opener for the Irish will be on Monday, November 24 versus Northern Illinois.