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November 4 , 2003

Boxscore

Jernavis Draughn led all scorers with 16 points against the World HoopStars.

Men's Basketball Defeats World HoopStars in Exhibition Opener, 85-39
Jernavis Draughn leads the Eagles with 16 points

WASHINGTON - The AU men’s basketball team opened its season with a dominating win over the World Hoop Stars 85-39 in an exhibition game at Bender Arena. The Eagles were led by senior Jernavis Draughn (Triangle, Va./Potomac Senior) with 16 points and six rebounds.

Draughn led the Eagles by scoring six of the first eight points of the game. The Eagles dominated the opening stanza, as freshman Sekou Lewis (Cleveland, Ohio/Pendleton School, Fla.), playing his first minutes as an Eagle, scored four points and grabbed four offensive rebounds. Entering the locker room, the Eagles led by 22.

Early in the second half, the Eagles increased their lead by allowing the visiting team only six points in the first 10 minutes. Junior Raimondas Petrauskas (Mazeikiai, Lithuania/Physical Culture Academy) scored 14 points and had four rebounds.

“Overall, I was very pleased with how we played, particularly the guys who came off the bench,” said American University Head Coach Jeff Jones. “After our intrasquad scrimmage, I told the team I was only going to play six players so I was very pleased with our role players tonight, particularly Jamaal Caterina and Patrick Okpwae.”

Okpwae (Yaounde, Cameroon/Berkshire School, Fla.) finished with eight points on four-of-six shooting, adding eight rebounds and two blocks. Caterina (Portland, Maine/Brewster Academy) finished with 10 points on five-of-six shooting and had six rebounds.

The Eagles will next face Sakalai Vilnius (Lithuania) on Nov. 16 at 3 p.m.