ROME, Italy – Veni, vidi, vici is a famous quote from Roman military general Julius Caesar which translates to I came, I saw, I conquered. On Saturday night against the Stella Azzurra Basketball Academy, the Redbirds did just that, winning the team's opening game of their Italian trip by a 65-58 final score.
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In a small and very warm gym, the Redbirds started the game with Zach Copeland, Ricky Torres, Keith Fisher III, Rey Idowu, and Matt Chastain. ISU got off to a fast start behind a smothering press, jumping out to a 26-10 lead behind 10 first-quarter points from sophomore Dedric Boyd.
"The guys competed, they got off to a great start in our press," said ISU head coach Dan Muller. "Our press was really good, and then I took the press off to see how we'd be in the half-court man-to-man, and we weren't quite as good. We definitely saw some nerves, and when you have guys sit out for a year, and then come back there are some nerves – and of course your freshmen there are some nerves. The guys played hard and they played together."
With the press off for the second quarter, Stella Azzurra fought back and climbed to within four points at halftime at 35-31, and by two at the end of the third quarter at 43-41. Stella Azzurra hit a three-point shot to start the fourth quarter, taking a 44-43 lead, before ISU scored the next 10 points to put the game out of reach.
Leading the way for the Redbirds in the game was Boyd, who scored 20 points, while Fisher scored nine, Idowu, freshman DJ Horne, and Copeland each scored eight, and freshman Antonio Reeves scored seven points.
"I think the game was good for us," said Fisher. "We got to play against other people, and we've been going against each other all summer long. I thought it was good, and we got to see what we can do better, and see what we need to improve on, but overall I thought it was really good. We got the W"
The Redbirds have tomorrow afternoon free to explore the city more and will take in a soccer match between Real Madrid and LaRoma.
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