VARESE, Italy – Washington State men's basketball saw a 29-point halftime lead slip away as it fell to Loca Ubriaca, 114-109, in overtime, Saturday in the final of five games of its foreign tour of Italy. 

Sophomore Robert Franks and senior Ike Iroegbu led the scoring, each with a game-high 21 points. Franks  was 10-for 12 from the field and added a team high 8 rebounds while Iroegbu had 8 assists. Freshman Malachi Flynn had a double-double in the exhibition game with 15 points and 11 assists. He added 7 rebounds. Two other Cougars scored in double figures as sophomore Viont'e Daniels scored 12 points and freshman Jamar Ergas had 10. 

Fabio Valentini led Loca Ubriaca with 17 points on 5-for-10 shooting from beyond the 3-point arc. Five other players scored in double figures for the home team as Luca Valentini had 15 and Matteo Maruca and Andrea Presemassi each had 14 points. Giordano Pagani had a team-high 7 rebounds. 

The Cougars shot a sweltering .625 (25-for-40) from the field in the first half and cooled off in the second to finish with a .506 (40-for-79) clip from the field. Loca Ubriaca shot just .385 (15-for-39) in the first half and finished with a .430 clip (37-for-86). The Cougars led 33-16 at the end of the first quarter and 70-41 at halftime. 

Franks, Ergas, Daniels and freshman Jeff Pollard each got their only starts of the foreign tour, as the upper classmen starters rested, and the Cougars quickly jumped out to a 14-3 advantage halfway through the first quarter. Washington State kept the momentum going as it led 33-16 at the end of the first. 

The second quarter picked up right where the first one left off as WSU's 17-point first quarter lead quickly became 29 points at halftime. Franks had 17 of his 21 points and 6 of his 8 rebounds in the first half, while Flynn finished the half with 12 points and 6 assists. 

Both teams started the third quarter slow, as Loca Ubriaca got the first points of the quarter at the 8:41 mark. Pollard counted a minute later as the Cougars maintained their 29-point lead. The lead became 32 at the 6-minute mark in the third quarter off a layup by senior Conor Clifford. 

Halfway through the quarter the home team got hot from beyond the 3-point arc as it went on a 20-8 run in the final four minutes of the third to pull within 20 points at 83-63 to start the fourth quarter. With WSU leading the game 87-70, Fabio Valentini went on a 12-0 run of his own for Loca Ubriaca, hitting four-straight 3-pointers to pull his team within 5 points, 87-82 with 5:47 to go in the game. A layup by Micael Biaalkowski pulled the home team within 3 points, before Franks hit a jumper to extend the lead back to 5 with 4 minutes to go in the game. 

Loca Ubriaca tied the game up at 93 points apiece on a 3-pointer by Eduardo Vescouir with 1:22 to go. Costly turnovers by the Cougars allowed Loca Ubriaca to go up by 2, before a layup by Iroegbu with 18 seconds to go tied the game. WSU forced a turnover and Daniels' three-quarter's court shot just missed as the two teams went to overtime. 

Loca Ubriaca struck first with a 3-pointer by Maruca just seconds into overtime to take a 3-point lead. It added 2 more points on a jumper by Erik Ruiu. Two free throw shots by Iroegbu cut the lead back to three, but Maruca went one-for-one from the charity stripe to take the lead to 4 with 3:11 to go. A free throw by Bialkowski made the lead five again. With 2:17 to go, senior Josh Hawkinson hit his lone 3-pointer of the game to cut the lead to 2, 102-100 with 2:17 to go in overtime. Loca Ubriaca made all 8 of its free throw attempts in the final 2 minutes and the Cougars couldn't come back as they fell 114-109. 

The Cougars return to Pullman Sunday, Aug. 14 after 10-days away touring Italy. Washington State went 3-2 in its five games overseas.