Aug. 17, 2007
BANGKOK, Thailand - Washington State men's basketball student-athletes Aron Baynes and Thomas Abercrombie both played well in leading their teams at the World University Game, Thursday.
Baynes, a center for the Cougars and a native of Cairns (pronounced CANS), Australia, scored a game-high 19 points. pulled down a team-high nine rebounds, and added three blocks as Australia defeated the Czech Republic 63-54 to finish in 17th place.
Auckland, New Zealand native and WSU guard Abercrombie scored nine points and added four rebounds to help his team route China 117-88 and finish in 15th place.
Baynes averaged 18.1 points and 9.0 rebounds, both second best in the tournament, during seven games. He scored in double figures in each game, registered two double-doubles, and had three games with nine rebounds. He shot 67.1 percent (55-for-82) from the field and averaged 2.3 blocks per game.
Australia led the Czech Republic 16-11 after one quarter and 26-23 at halftime. The Australians increased their advantage to double digits midway through the third quarter and led 42-34 heading into the final stanza.
The Czech Republic closed with 51-47 with under five minutes to play in the game, but Australia went on a 10-0 to put the contest out of reach.
New Zealand was in control throughout its victory over China leading 30-18 after the first quarter and 58-39 at halftime. The lead grew to 26 midway through the third quarter and New Zealand cruised to the win behind 50 points from Everard Bartlett, the tournament's leading scorer at 24.5 points per outing.
