MALIBU, Calif. -- Members of the Pepperdine men's basketball team will be sending reports on their trip to Italy, which runs from May 4-14. Read the preview here. Their updates will be posted below as they come in.
May 12
Pepperdine 82, Sangiorgese Basket 76
Pepperdine scoring: Bell 19, Thompson 17, Darby 13, Dupre 6, Jackson 6, Lowery 6, Kerry 5, Agre 4, Branning 2, Moore 2, Willis 2.
Additional stat leaders: Rebounds (Thompson 9), Assists (Willis 3), Steals (Jackson 4).
May 12
by Scott Coopman, director of basketball operations
Not too much happened today. We left Mestre/Venice at about 10:45 am and headed to Lake Como. The drive was about 5 hours including our lunch break at the Autogrill on the highway towards Milan. Our hotel is actually in Cernobbio which is a little town right next to Como. The entire area is beautiful and driving down the road to the lake is just amazing.
Our final game of the tour was back on the outskirts of Milan, about a 40 minute bus ride from our hotel. The guys are very tired and we started out sluggish, falling behind early to Sangiorgese Basket by 14, we had to battle a hot shooting team and our first real taste of 'interesting' international officiating. The guys stayed focused and buckled down defensively in the second quarter, making a run to tie us up at the half. At halftime our hosts asked some of our guys to take part in a dunk contest for the crowd. Mychel Thompson and Denis Agre threw down a couple of dunks each. One of Sangiorgese's players dunked over three of his friends who were lying down in push-up position. The crowd went wild and of course this brought Keion Bell off the bench. He put three of his teammates in the key and jumped over them, reminiscent of Blue and Orange Madness, bringing down the house.
In the second half our athleticism helped us take control of the game, dominating the glass. We shot real well inside the arc, 30/57. Tired legs kept us from shooting well from behind the arc, only 2/12. We buckled down defensively and really disrupted the offense of our opponents in the fourth quarter.
Tomorrow we are going to tour Lake Como by boat with stops in Bellagio and Como.
May 11
Pepperdine 87, Texa Roncado 71
Pepperdine scoring: Bell 21, Thompson 18, Jackson 14, Lowery 8, Willis 8, Dupre 6, Moore 6, Darby 5, Kerry 2, Agre 0, Branning 0.
Additional ther stat leaders: Rebounds (Kerry 7), Assists (Bell 5), Steals (Jackson 4).
May 11
by Scott Coopman, director of operations
Our bus dropped us off just across the causeway from Mestre to Venice where we boarded a water taxi for our journey in to the city. The taxi took us through the Grand Canal which runs through the center of Venice to Piazza San Marco, the heart of Venice. Here we visited a glass making shop, something that Venice is famous for. We also met our guide who took us through a historical tour of the city center. Some of our party took a ride through the canals on a gondola while everyone else spread out to do some shopping and exploring.
Game #3 took us to the town of Treviso to play against TEXA RONCADO. Keion Bell led the way with 21 points and 5 blocked shots. Mychel Thompson chipped in 18 with a series of highlight dunks and Lorne Jackson shot 4/7 from behind the arc. After leading by 9 at the half (44-35), we broke the game open on a pair of 3-pointers by Lorne Jackson and breakaway dunks by Bell and Thompson. The pair capped the run with a lob jam in transition. Our guards were able to get in to the paint and kick out for open 3s or easy jumpers leading to a pretty good shooting night for the team.
Our final game will be tomorrow night in the Lake Como area followed by a day where we'll get to tour the lake by boat and visit the town of Bellagio.
May 10
by Scott Coopman, director of operations
Today was a travel day. We left Florence at noon and headed east to Venice. The journey took us up through the mountains that split Italy in half. Along the way we made a stop at the Autogrill which is a very nice rest stop. Italy has very strict rules for bus drivers and the amount of driving that they are allowed to do. This allowed us to have a break in the middle of our drive to grab lunch and stretch the legs out. Our hotel was not actually in Venice. No cars are allowed there so hauling luggage, etc would be quite difficult. We checked in to a hotel in Mestre which is across the causeway from Venice and contains the major port on the east coast of the country.
May 8
Pepperdine 94, CUS Siena 53
Pepperdine scoring: Bell 40, Dupre 11, Agre 10, Kerry 7, Lowery 7, Jackson 6, Moore 6, Thompson 5, Clardy 4, Willis 4, Branning 3, Darby 2.
Additional stat leaders: Rebounds (Kerry 10), Assists (Thompson 4), Steals (Bell and Lowery 2).
May 6
Romana Basket Anagni 90, Pepperdine 83
Pepperdine scoring: Bell 23, Thompson 22, Jackson 12, Dupre 7, Moore 7, Agre 5, Kerry 5, Clardy 4, Darby 3, Willis 2, Lowery 1, Branning 0.
Additional stat leaders: Rebounds (Moore, 11), Assists (Lowery, Thompson and Jackson, 3), Steals (Jackson 6).
May 6
by Corbin Moore, junior center
Breakfast was different than in America. There was a lot of different types of bread; it was weird seeing things like lettuce and tomatoes for breakfast. I had some eggs that were like something I have never seen, they were a dark yellow and runny, they tasted a little different, but overall weren't bad. The glasses for juice were really small as well.
At the Vatican it was great seeing the different types of art and architecture that I have learned about in classes I have taken. The Sistine Chapel was very impressive because Michelangelo painted the entire ceiling and one of the walls on his own, which took him over 10 years total to complete. Our guide was very informative and we learned a lot about the history of the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican.
We then headed out for our game, which was about an hour and a half from our hotel in downtown Rome. The gym took a little while to get used to with the wider key. The style of play was different and also took a while to get used to and the referees definitely call a different game than the ones in the states. The fans were very welcoming and although we lost it was definitely a positive experience for our team. (Pepperdine lost 90-83 to Roma Chimici Anagni Basket, a B-1 team)
Tomorrow we are taking a tour of The Coliseum and Rome's city center, which I am looking forward too because I have heard so many great things about it. Until next time Ciao!
May 5
by Scott Coopman, director of basketball operations
Quite a trip here. We started May 4 with the guys lifting and conditioning with Ryan Capretta on campus. We departed for LAX at 2:30 and made it in plenty of time, of course. Hopped on an Air France Boeing 777 for a 12 and a half hour flight to Paris. Lifted off at about 7 pm. Landed in Paris at 2:50. Lots of trying to sleep on the plane. Walking laps around the the back of the plane. Most of the big guys got pretty good seats at the bulkheads so they could stretch their legs. On average everyone watched about 3 movies on the flight. The Air France flight crew was very friendly. Of course we landed just about on time in Paris but then we taxied for what felt like 20 minutes! Having to change planes we only had about 25 minutes and Charles De Gaulle Airport is enormous! There was no way we'd make it to our connecting flight to Rome. Luckily, Air France was waiting for our entire party and walked us to our plane, holding it for about 20 minutes. So, we made both our flights and made it safely to Rome. The weather was terrific when we landed. We were met at the Airport by our Italian host Fabio who led us out to baggage claim. There we met our Basketball Travelers host Dave Kronstadt and boarded our bus. Not much of a customs check so we got out of the airport very quickly. Our hosts gave us a nice bus tour on the way in to the hotel. Entering the ancient city is quite breathtaking as all of the sudden you're passing through 2000 year old city walls. We drove past the ancient city center and the Colosseum. These are truly amazing sites. We will be visiting these places on May 7. Tomorrow, May 6, we are headed to Vatican City for a 9 am tour. We'll also have our first game of the tour. Updates to follow!
