Golden Eagles Claim Third Win, Defeat Douglas

Golden Eagles Claim Third Win, Defeat Douglas 92-70

James Nets 18 points, Barro Posts Double-Double

New Westminster, Canada – The Marquette University men’s basketball team put together its best start-to-finish effort of the squad’s Labor Day weekend foreign tour Sunday morning, defeating Douglas College 92-70.

The Golden Eagles are now 3-0 on the trip and will conclude action Saturday night at the University of Victoria. The MU travel party will fly back to Milwaukee early Monday morning.

Junior guard Dominique James led the team with 18 points and senior Ousmane Barro finished with his best game of the weekend, collecting 12 points and 12 rebounds for a double-double. Junior Wesley Matthews chipped in 13 points before fouling out in the third quarter.

Douglas, which had dropped a 12-point decision to Idaho Saturday night, had any hopes of an upset of the Golden Eagles fall by the wayside moments after the opening whistle. MU scored the game’s first 13 points and led 20-2 before the fans in attendance were able to warm the bleachers beneath them.

The Golden Eagles shot 51.5 percent from the field in the first half and forced several turnovers to jump out to the early lead. The Royals would conclude action with 29 turnovers, which led to 23 Golden Eagle points. Douglas shot just 31.8 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes.

With seven minutes left in the second quarter and the Golden Eagles leading by 15 points, head coach Tom Crean challenged his squad to extend the advantage prior to the intermission. The players responded and owned a 47-24 lead as the two teams headed to their respective locker rooms.

The second half would see the Golden Eagles maintain their double-digit advantage as the team was never seriously challenged by Douglas. The Royals did shoot 53.1 percent from the field in the final two quarters, but were unable to stop Marquette’s offensive success.

Tour Notes: Bol Kong, who led Douglas with 23 points, is regarded as one of the top talents in all of Canada … He was recruited by several prominent U.S. programs, including Iowa when current MU assistant Tim Buckley was with the Hawkeyes … Kong, who has been unable to gain a student visa in the United States, only scored three points before halftime … Following the matchup with Douglas, the travel party boarded a ferry (Queen of Saanich) bound for Victoria … In an effort to try and experiment with a number of different lineup combinations, the Marquette coaching staff has predetermined the lineups on a quarter-by-quarter basis … Air Force, which played the Moult Athletic All-Stars after MU’s game against Douglas, watched the Golden Eagles in the second half from the stands … Moult defeated Air Force Sunday afternoon.