BARCELONA, Spain – Quan Lax connected on a team-high five three-pointers in a 17-point effort, while LJ Thomas scored 10 of his 12 points in the final 10 minutes; however, the Governors fell at the buzzer to the Barcelona Team Select 1 in their opening game of their three-game International Tour, Wednesday, in Barcelona Spain.
Albeit an exhibition, a trio of Governors – Lax, Thomas, and Akili Evans – made their first start in the red and white, while the lineup features a pair of returners as well in Isaac Haney and Hansel Enmanuel.
Lax opened the game with a triple, which was answered by four-straight points by Barcelona. An Evans layup returned the advantage to APSU and was the second of three-straight lead changes by the teams.
Each of the Govs' first six baskets came from different players with Lax, Evans, Haney, Daniel Loos, freshman Tate McCubbin, and Thomas connecting before the end of the first 10-minute quarter.
Trailing 19-15 entering the second period, a quintet of early threes helped the Govs begin the frame on a 14-2 run in the first four minutes.
Barcelona brought the game back to a point at 35-34 later in the quarter, but a McCubbin triple followed by a Loos putback helped the Govs take a 40-36 advantage into the half.
Austin Peay maintained the lead for all but the final few seconds of the third quarter; however, a late goaltending call gave Barcelona its first advantage since the second quarter in what proved to be the final points of the quarter.
Barcelona led 54-52 entering the final 10 minutes and extended its lead after opening with a 7-1 run.
After cutting their deficit to a pair, Thomas' third score of the game tied the two at 61, before Lax put APSU up 66-63 with 3:15 left in regulation. Thomas scored back-to-back two-pointers later in the fourth, with the final putting the Govs up 70-67 with less than 90 seconds to play.
Barcelona went on to score the final five points, including a driving layup at the buzzer to seal the win.
Takeaways
- Quan Lax looked good. He led the team in scoring with 17 and showed his long-range expertise with five three-pointers on seven attempts from beyond the arc.
- LJ Thomas showed why he is a former four-star recruit. After scoring just one basket in the first three quarters, he scored 10 of APSU's final 13 points.
- Akili can shoot. He is a 32.3% three-point shooter in his career, and showed he can knock down the long ball with a pair of second-quarter triples.
- This team is going to be hard to beat in the regular season. Yes, it's an exhibition. Yes, it's August. But this team had just gotten off a nearly eight-hour flight the day before, endured numerous delays, playing in a new country, a seven-hour time difference, and still came just up just a few points away from stealing a win on the road.
Up Next
Austin Peay prepares for a quick turnaround, as they face another Barcelona Select Team, at 12 p.m. (CEST), Thursday.
