Another day, another nation annexed into the Otto-man Empire.
Brandon Triche scored 17 points, grabbed four boards and swiped three steals in the East Coast All-Stars' 78-77 win over Sweden on Friday in the first round of the Four Nations Cup. However, unlike their exhibition massacre victory a few days earlier, this one required a comeback.
You might be interested to know Triche is the Scoop Jardine of East Coast All-Stars...
After a timeout, the final shot was to go to Triche, who missed a jumper from the foul line. McGruder raced in from the corner to grab the rebound and put it up off the glass just as the horn sounded.
Baye Mousa Keita had a workman-like evening, scoring 6 points, grabbing 7 rebounds and blocking two shots before fouling out.
Unfortunately, Georgia (the country, not the state) will not be falling in line with Otto-man Empire. The Eastern European country withstood our efforts on Saturday and fended off the All-Stars, 98-81.
Georgia again came out quickly to open up a 19 point lead with 7:34 left in the game. Anthony Johnson (Purdue) and Brandon Triche (Syracuse) then found a rythym and combined for an 8-0 run cutting the lead to 11 points.
The fiesty All Stars hung tough chipping away at the Georgian lead and had the ball in their hands down 85-81 but simply ran out of gas.
Triche finished with 12 points, 2 boards and a dish. Baye Moussa Keita mustered only a rebound.
The team played its final game of the Four Nations Cup against tournament host Estonia Sunday and the Estonians will remain free as well.
The All-Stars looked to have the Cup won for 37 minutes before Estonia used a 17-0 run to grab the lead and finish the Four Nations Cup with a 2-1 record. The squad finished third with a 1-2 mark behind Georgia (2-1) and ahead of fourth-place Sweden (1-2).
Brandon Triche led all scorers with 25 points, however he want not named to the All-Tournament Team despite his great play during the tourney.
And so the "All-Stars" head home. Hopefully Triche and Keita learned some valuable lessons and sampled what thy could of the fine Estonian meats and cheeses.
Sweden, go ahead and raise the orange flag whenever you can. Estonia and Georgia...we'll be back for you.