ROCCAPORENA, Italy -- The Omaha men's basketball team continued its tour of Italy on Wednesday evening, traveling three hours by bus from Rome for a 75-39 win over Stellazzurra at Hotel Roccaporena.
UNO was paced by 11 points apiece from sophomore forward Daniel Meyer and senior forward Jake White. Senior forward Randy Reed II followed up with eight points, while senior guard Devin Patterson had seven for the night.
Freshman guard Zach Jackson and sophomore guard Devin Newsome added six points apiece, and sophomore guard Alex Allbery, senior guard Tim Smallwood and freshman guard JT Gibson each had another five. Sophomore forward Tre'Shawn Thurman also
tallied four points for the evening, while freshman forward Ben Kositzke had three. Junior guard Tra-Deon Hollins and freshman forward Zach Pirog rounded out the offensive attack with two points each.
"I thought we showed a lot of improvement from our first game with tonight's performance," head coach Derrin Hansen said. "We were good defensively in last week against All Star Varese, but tonight we were locked in against Stellazzurra, holding them to 39
points. Stellazzurra is one of the best young teams in Italy, and they have some potential future Olympians in their program.
"We had some guys step up and play well tonight. Offensively, I think we found each other better with an extra pass. Those are all things we were hoping to see during our tour here, and it's encouraging to see our team taking positive steps forward like we did
today.”
Ten of Meyers' 11 points came in the first quarter, which pushed the Mavericks to a quick 19-12 lead after the first 10 minutes. Spurred by an 11-0 run to start the second quarter, Omaha extended its lead to 39-21 by the halfway mark.
In the third quarter, the Mavericks' advantage was pushed to 54-31. White dominated in the fourth quarter with 10 points on four buckets and a pair of free throws, ultimately helping Omaha to the 75-39 win.
"For the second straight game, Daniel Meyer was an inside presence for us,” Hansen said. “He ran the floor hard and got deep catches, and he was on the glass. We're very happy with what Daniel's been able to do in the offseason and now on this trip."
The game was played with four 10-minute quarters. Stellazzurra's roster is made up of 15- to 19-year-old players recruited from Europe and Africa.
Omaha continues its tour of Italy with two and a half more days in Rome. The Mavericks return to action Thursday, Aug. 20, facing Isernia at Noon CT.
To follow the team's adventures abroad, read the blog on OMavs.com, follow Omaha Men's Basketball on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The official team accounts and student-athletes will use #euromavs to hashtag their posts.
