Kings Come Back to Down AIA

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA--It came down to the last possession, but the final shot wouldn't fall for AIA, and the three-time NBL Champion Sydney Kings escaped with a 105-103 victory.

In a back and forth game at the Alexandria Basketball Stadium in Sydney, both AIA and the Sydney Kings relied heavily on their shooters to control the pace of the game. In the first half, Jason Holsinger of Evansville connected on four 3-pointers and finished the half with 20 points. On the other end, Sydney's Ian Crosswhite was every bit as good with 21 points as the game went to the break even at 54.

Iowa State's Wes Johnson dominated the 3rd period by scoring 10 of his 21 points and leading AIA to a 6-point lead. With 9 minutes to go in the game, AIA held an eleven point advantage at 94-83. Sydney then scored the next ten points of the game before Oregon's Ray Schafer ended the drought with a three point play. Ian Crosswhite hit a pair of free throws with under two minutes to play to finally give Sydney the lead at 98-97. Texas A&M's Josh Carter came right back with a basket to give AIA the lead again, but Sydney managed four more points from the line in the final minute and a three pointer by BJ Carter to give them the margin they needed.

Down two with ten seconds left on the clock, Luke Zeller of Notre Dame stole the ball for AIA but couldn't get the jumper to fall on the other end as time ran out on the American's. AIA coach Eric Nelson commented, " Our team showed great improvement from last night's game. We just need to finish the deal on the boards and executing down the stretch."

Holsinger lead AIA with 26 points while Johnson finished with 21 and 3 steals. Zeller added 14 points and 8 rebounds while Shafer tacked on another 13 points and 5 boards. Josh Carter finished with 15 points and 2 steals.

AIA will host clinics at two juvenile detention centers on Monday before travelling to Tasmania for a game on Tuesday.