Flex avenge loss to Belgrade, guarantee winning trip
Flex guaranteed themselves a winning exhibition tour of China
May 27, 2015
RUGAO, China - The Bloomington Flex guaranteed themselves a winning exhibition tour of China with a convincing 92-82 win over the Belgrade Stars at Rugao Olympic Sports Center Wednesday, raising their record to 6-2 on the trip with three games to play. Belgrade fell to 6-2 on their tour with the loss.
After scoring just 61 points in a loss to the Stars on May 16, Bloomington zipped out to a 24-14 first-quarter lead on the strength of Harry Marshall's eleven points in the period.
Marshall continued his onslaught as the Flex continued to dominate in the second quarter. Tre Johnson added to his highlight reel with a pair of thunderous dunks. Marshall finished the half with 17.
A Justin Bocot third-quarter fast break layup at the 4:30 mark gave the Flex a 62-49 lead--and one more point than they scored the entire game against Belgrade in their first matchup.
Bloomington then opened up a 19-point lead at 70-52 on a C. J. Hampton three with 2:02 to play in the period.
But The Stars closed the third on an 8-1 run to end the period with the score 71-59.
Belgrade continued to chip away at the Flex lead, despite three straight jump shots by Nate Fuqua, and got to within five at 79-74 with 5:17 to play, prompting a timeout by A. J. Guyton.
Following the timeout, the Flex outscored the Stars 13-8 down the stretch, punctuated by a pair of Bocot three-pointers with less than two minutes to play.
Marshall finished with 25 points to lead all scorers. Bocot added 13, Tre Johnson had 12, and Bryant Austin finished with 11.
The Flex travel to Dezhou Thursday for a weekend tournament to close out play before returning home on June 2.
PHOTO: Harry Marshall drives to the basket for two of his game-high 25 points