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The Pac-12 All-Star Team, consisting of 12 student-athletes from 10 conference schools, played their first of three games in Australia. They started off against the Melbourne Tigers of the South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL), which is a semi-professional basketball league in Australia and cruised to a 107-51 victory.
The Pac-12 All-Star Team is working as part of the Pac-12 Global initiative, accomplishing the goal of sending a group of student-athletes around the globe for a series of cultural experiences as well as exhibition games.
As Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott told the Pac-12 Network "This tour of Australia marks an important step forward in the Pac-12's mission to use the power of sport to advance our schools' reach around the world, and to give our student-athletes opportunities to learn about a new culture while playing a sport they love".
The Pac-12 Global was founded in 2011 and has previously sent one All-Star Team abroad in 2014, as they traveled to China to compete in exhibition games.
Stephen Thompson Jr. and Drew Eubanks from Oregon State are joined on the team by All-Pac-12 honorable mention performers Josh Hawkinson (Washington State), Jordan McLaughlin (USC) and Wesley Gordon (Colorado).
The #Pac12Hoops All-Stars have arrived in Australia, and they're ready to play: https://t.co/MdDwOKNs2s pic.twitter.com/UNN0m0wdpm
— Pac-12 Conference (@pac12) July 9, 2016
In game one, the Pac-12 team was led by California's Stephen Domingo who scored 19 points on 6-of-9 from downtown. Playing 10-minute quarters, the Pac-12 team jumped out to a 30-16 advantage after the first quarter. The Tigers fought back in the second until Stephen Thompson Jr. ended their run with a nice bucket with 2:21 to play in the opening half, and the Pac-12 All-stars took a 55-32 lead at the half.
The Pac-12 All-Stars clamped down defensively in the second half, holding The Melbourne Tigers to 19 points on 7-of-32 (21.8 percent) shooting. The Pac-12 team was very well-balanced in the first game with 11 of the 12 players recording points in Sunday's contest.
The Pac-12 All-Star Team now turns its attention to the Australian Men's National Team. The Australian team know as the Boomers should include NBA players Patty Mills (San Antonio Spurs), Aron Baynes (Detroit Pistons) and Andrew Bogut (Dallas Mavericks).
The Pac-12 All-Stars will face the Boomers at Hisense Arena in Melbourne twice this upcoming week. Tune in to the Pac-12 Network to watch Stephen Thompson Jr. and Drew Eubanks compete against some of the world's best competition. (All times Pacific).