No. 5: Final Day In Alicante, Off To Barcelona

Entry No. 5: Final Day In Alicante, Off To Barcelona
Courtesy: Stanford Athletics  
Release: 09/08/2011

Sept. 8, 2011

Spain Previews: Players | Dawkins | San Francisco Chronicle | San Jose Mercury News

My Foreign Trip Experience: Goods | Borchardt

Entries: No. 1: Cardinal Arrives In Spain | No. 2: Royal Palace, Evening Scrimmage
No. 3: Museo del Prado, Real Madrid Game | No. 4: Day Trip To University of Murcia

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ALICANTE, Spain- The backcourt duo of Chasson Randle and Anthony Brown shined in Stanford's fourth game of its foreign tour, with both players scoring in double figures despite Stanford falling to Meridiano Alicante 87-56 on Thursday night.

Randle led the Cardinal with 16 points in 17 minutes, making 6-10 from the field and connecting on 3-5 from the foul line. Brown added 14 points on 5-12 shooting, knocking down 4-6 from beyond the arc and grabbing a team-high nine rebounds.

Aaron Bright chipped in with eight points (3-9 FG, two three-pointers). Robbie Lemons finished with five points,Josh Huestis totaled four points and five boards while Stefan Nastic also came away with five rebounds.

Meridiano Alicante jumped out to a large lead early in the contest, relying mainly on sharp shooting from long range to finish the game with 11 three-pointers.

Yet another high-level ACB League squad, Meridiano Alicante is led by former Duke standout Kyle Singler, who finished with 16 points. Singler, a four-time All-ACC selection and 2010 NCAA Tournament Final Four Most Outstanding Player, was coached by Stanford's Johnny Dawkins and Mike Schrage while at Duke.

Stanford won the fourth period by a 24-13 margin even with Meridiano Alicante's starters continuing to log extended minutes deep into the game.

Randle and Brown did the majority of their damage over the final two periods. Randle scored 12 of his 16 points in the fourth period alone, aggressively driving the lane and easily weaving his way past multiple defenders. All 14 of Brown's points came in the second half, highlighted by a stretch to begin the fourth period in which he made three straight treys in successive possessions, and four three-pointers overall in a five-minute span that bridged the third and fourth periods.

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First period starting lineup: Bright, Randle, Powell, Josh Owens, Jack Trotter.
Second period starting lineup: Lemons, Randle, Powell, Owens, Trotter.
Third period starting lineup: Bright, Randle, Powell, Huestis, Nastic.
Fourth period starting lineup: Lemons, Randle, Brown, Powell, Owens.

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 Stanford head coach Johnny Dawkins

"I thought our guys really played well in the fourth quarter. I really liked the way they kept competing while playing against an experienced team and real challenging group. They played hard for 40 minutes and we were at our best during the end of the game."

"I thought both Anthony and Chasson really stepped up. That's what we are hoping to see on this trip, guys stepping up and making plays. Chasson really did a good job of getting into the paint and creating offense for us. I thought Anthony really bounced back well. This trip has been somewhat of a struggle for him to find his way. But today not only did he score, he also grabbed nine rebounds. That was a big contribution there as well. I'm happy for him because against this competition, you want to be able to grow and he showed that tonight."

 Meridiano Alicante head coach Jesus Vidorreta Gomez

"I think you have good players. The team plays with an order, using your bodies on defense and with a good control of spacing in every moment. I think the difficult part is because this is your fourth game in a row, the legs maybe aren't the same at the beginning of these games. But the players finally showed us a good mentality in the fourth period. The team was playing hard. It appears to be a good mix of younger players and veterans."

"I felt Randle is a very good player. Anthony Brown, with his shooting, is another talented player. On the inside, we liked the length and play of Powell, although today I'm not sure we saw the best of him. But the best of the team for me was Randle."

 Meridiano Alicante forward Kyle Singler

"I think the wings for you guys are pretty athletic. You have some good pieces, decent size. I'm not sure how good the Pac-12 is this year, but I think if these guys compete and play well as a team, they can do well. What I saw from you guys tonight, is that there is some athleticism from the wings and some physicality from the bigs."

"In the fourth quarter, they started shooting the ball well. I did catch some of the plays they were calling; some were similar to what we ran at Duke. There were some moments with a similar style from Duke that I'm sure Coach Dawkins brought with him over here."

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Friday is a day off from game competition, as the team makes the approximately five-hour trek from Alicante to Barcelona. The Cardinal will remain in Barcelona until departing to the United States on Wednesday, Sept. 14. Here is a quick look at Stanford's remaining schedule during the trip: