After the first encounter between the AIS Men and USA in Zunyi China went into overtime, the stage was set for an exciting rematch in game 5 of the Institutes Chinese Tour.  The first quarter lived up to expectations with the AIS just holding out the USA by two points as Mirko Djeric continued his good form from the previous night with 7 first quarter points and more importantly 4 assists, dissecting the USA zone with precision passing.  Big man Matt Andronicos was the beneficiary of two of the assists, sneaking behind the zone and throwing down two big first quarter dunks.

In the 2^nd quarter the AIS men lifted the tempo and started to expose the fatiguing American’s.  The AIS also began to get on top of the rebounding, a nice turnaround from the first time the teams met.  Dante Exum and Brandon Brine both started to lift as did Cade Towers, who provided 3 big boards in as many minutes, including a big put back on the offensive end.  Despite the dominance the AIS men were still unable to shake the USA team, going into the main break carrying an eight point lead, 39-31.

In the third and fourth quarters both teams traded baskets for much of the play.  USA had a couple of runs to nudge ahead but each time the AIS Men would refocus and regain the lead.  With 20 seconds to go the AIS went ahead by one on a Dante Exum drive as he turned the corner off a high on-ball screen, hesitated and continued to the basket for an open layup.  The Americans quickly advanced the ball to the other end and on a clear out play were able to get to the basket and finish a tough shot in traffic.  With just 3 seconds left on the clock Coach Stacker called a timeout and diagrammed the final play.  Despite the good execution, the Mirko Djeric mid range jump-shot just rimmed out, handing the AIS men their second loss on the buzzer in as many days.

The opportunity to play in these close games is proving to be invaluable experience for the young AIS team who now prepare to play Spain late tomorrow night in what shapes up to be a super tough game.

Game report by Mathew Neason, Scholarship Coach