Rutgers men’s basketball played the first of four exhibitions on its overseas trip on Thursday night. The Scarlet Knights produced an 85-83 last second, come from behind victory over Senegal Select in Marius Ndiaye Stadium in downtown Dakar, Senegal.
Aundre Hyatt hit a game tying three-pointer with about 20 seconds to play before Antwone Woolfolk won the game on a tip-in at the buzzer.
No official highlight package or box score was provided. However, here is a rundown of the top performers.
One notable team stat is that Rutgers shot an impressive 60.0% from three-point range on 18 of 30 from behind the arc.
Aundre Hyatt led the way with 30 points on 9 of 15 shooting. He made 7 of 11 shots from behind the arc, which is very encouraging. Hyatt added 7 rebounds and 6 assists.
Gavin Griffiths played in his first official action in a Rutgers jersey. He scored 17 points on 7 of 15 shooting, made three shots from behind the arc while adding 5 rebounds and three assists.
Cliff Omoruyi had a double-double with 10 points and a game high 16 rebounds.
Oskar Palmquist was 4 of 6 from three-point range in his Rutgers return to finish with 12 points.
Derek Simpson didn’t score but had 9 assists.
Antwone Woolfolk finished with 10 points on 4 of 5 shooting along with 5 rebounds that included the game winning put back.
Antonio Chol had 6 points on two made threes.
Four players on the roster did not play. They include three players recovering from injuries: Mawot Mag, Emmanuel Ogbole, Jeremiah Williams. The other player is Austin Williams, who just joined the program.
One important note is that Rutgers hiked all day the hot sun of Goree Island, a previous slave trading port. A great experience for the student-athletes. In addition, the average age of the roster for Senegal Select is 28 years old.
All the reason to not read too much into the results for Rutgers as they tour Senegal and Portugal through August 19. The rotation used overseas is also missing several key players.
Overall, it’s great that the players are getting a tremendous off the court experience on their tour, while bonding with teammates. The trip remains in Senegal for a couple more days before flying to Portugal.
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thevinman
August 11, 2023 at 3:03 pm
I agree we can’t read too much into the unofficial box score but it does look encouraging to see both Hyatt and Griffiths shooting well, especially Gavin as it was his first game action with Rutgers.