Aug. 20, 2007
Perth, Australia – Luke Zeller (Washington, Ind.) scored three points and grabbed four rebounds in Athletes In Action’s loss to the Perth Wildcats on Sunday, Aug. 19 at the Craige Leaisure Centre. AIA was swept by Perth in the three-game series.
Both teams came out strong, shooting over 60 percent in the first quarter. Texas A&M’s Josh Carter scored 13 of the team’s first 22 points to lead AIA to a 33-30 first-period lead. Whitney Robinson also added six points off the bench in that period.
AIA controlled the game for much of the second quarter until Perth came back and took a 47-46 lead with 4:52 remaining. Both team cooled off in the second period, shooting only a combined 42 percent from the floor. AIA rebounded a Perth miss with nine second to go in the half and turned it into a Brain Stammer layup as time expired to give AIA a one-point (53-52) halftime advantage. For the half, AIA was 11-14 from the line while Perth was 0-2 from the charity stripe.
Perth started the second half on an 8-0 run as third-quarter turnovers proved to be the difference-maker in this contest. AIA had 10 turnovers, eight of them unforced, which led to eight Wildcat points, and managed just 12 shots in the period compared to 23 by Perth. The 26-13 margin in the quarter gave the Wildcats a 78-66 lead going into the fourth quarter.
In the fourth, AIA made a run to try to bet back into the game. Carter was fouled while canning a three-pointer and converted the four-point play to the game to within seven at 93-86. Perth put-back goal on the next possession coupled with AIA’s foul extended the lead to 10. Jimmy Graham of Miami finished the game with a double-double, recording 14 points and 10 rebounds in 29 minutes.
AIA will be in action again on Monday (Aug. 20) when it travels back to Sydney for a game in Wollongong against the Wollongong Hawks at The Snake Pit. The final game of the eight-game tour will be on Tuesday, Aug. 21 against the Sydney Kings at the Southerland Basketball Stadium in Southerland.
AIA Statistical Summary
Josh Carter, Texas A&M — 27 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists
Wes Johnson, Iowa State — 16 points, 5 rebounds
Jimmy Graham, Miami — 14 points, 10 rebounds, 2 blocks
Jason Holsinger, Evansville — 11 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists
Luke Zeller, Notre Dame — 3 points, 4 rebounds