The men’s basketball team will return home Sunday after spending a week in the , winning all three games it played against local teams during the foreign tour.
In the first game, the Redhawks defeated the College of the , 95-57. Chris Gweth () led five players in double figures with 23 points. Leigh Swanson (, ) scored 11 points, while Michael Wright (, ), Austen Powers (, ), and Marques Hollins ( Way, ) scored ten points each for .
In the team’s most competitive game of the trip, defeated the Bahamas All-Stars, 93-72. Wright and Mike Boxley () scored 16 points each, and Gweth contributed 13 points to the winning effort. The Redhawks concluded the playing portion of the trip with a 102-68 win over the Cybot Basketball Club. Boxley scored 28 points, Gweth dropped in 25 points, Powers added 12 points, and Taylor Olson () contributed 11 points to the cause.
The NCAA allows collegiate basketball teams to take a trip to a foreign country during the summer once every four years. Teams use this opportunity to give the players a different educational experience as well as for practice and playing time as a team.
Nine players return from the 2007-08 squad that posted an 18-9 record in the school’s final year in Division II. The team will come back together in October for formal practice in preparation for the 2008-09 season, which will include a trip to for the Great Alaska Shootout around Thanksgiving.