MYKONOS, Greece – Senior guard Kevin Overton led six players in double figures as the Auburn University men’s basketball team defeated KK Mega Superbet 92-71 on Saturday night at Ano Mera Indoor Hall.
Overton had 21 points and did not play for the final 15 minutes of the game with Auburn in control from start to finish.
Thomas Dowd added 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Tahaad Pettiford, Caleb Williams, Adam Olsen and Blake Muschalek all had 12. Pettiford also dished out a game-high nine assists to help Auburn make 16 3-pointers.
“A very physical and very competitive game,” Head Coach Steven Pearl said. “I thought for our first time out and not having four of our core guys, our guys competed and played hard. Superbet was very physical in the beginning, and we did a good job of handling it. There are a lot of things we need to clean up, but it’s August so overall I thought we did some good things.”
Playing FIBA rules which featured four 10-minute quarters, the Tigers led 27-19 after the first with Overton scoring eight and Pettiford seven. Adam Olsen came off the bench and hit back-to-back triples for six early points.
Superbet opened the second quarter on a 10-5 run and got within three at 32-29, but the Tigers responded with an 11-1 run, capped by a stepback 3-pointer from Muschalek which made the score 43-30 and forced a Superbet timeout.
The Tigers led 48-34 at halftime and were paced by Overton (12 points), Pettiford (10 points) and Thomas Dowd who had five points, nine rebounds and three assists at the break. Muschalek added seven off the bench.
Auburn came out on fire from deep to start the second half, knocking down three consecutive triples (two from Overton and one from Dowd) which forced Superbet into an early timeout with the Tigers leading 59-42.
Auburn put up 32 points in the third quarter and was in full control entering the four quarter up 80-56.
Center Bukky Oboye battled early foul trouble but finished the contest with six points, four rebounds and five blocks.
The two teams will once again square off tomorrow at 7 p.m. local, 11 a.m. CT in Mykonos.