Kazakhstan downs Wesleyan in hoops exhibition, 83-75

Rocky Mount, NC - The Battling Bishops of North Carolina Wesleyan dropped a hard-fought 83-75 contest to the Astana Tigers of Kazakhstan in Friday night’s much-anticipated international basketball exhibition in Everett Gymnasium.  Behind 13 first-half points by sophomore Trey Drake, Wesleyan forged a 40-32 lead at the break only to see KNT’s Anton Ponomarev net 15 second-half points steal the win.  Ponomarev finished with a game-high 28 points.

In the first half, the Bishops found themselves down 13-11 with 15:13 remaining.  Wesleyan, however, put together an 18-2 run over the next seven minutes to take a 29-15 advantage.

The Tigers used some clutch free throw shooting near the end of the half to cut the lead to eight at intermission.  Kazakhstan was 13-of-14 from the charity stripe in the period.

The second half saw the Tigers fight back to tie the game at 50-50 on a three-pointer by Ponomarev at the 13:57 mark.  Over the next five minutes, Kazakhstan went on to build its lead to ten points at 65-55 with 8:35 remaining.  The Bishops got no closer than five the rest of the way.

Drake finished with 21 points and eight rebounds to lead Wesleyan.  Lenny Hall and Jarmel Arrington added 15 and 13 points, respectively, while Reggie Washington contributed eight points and eight boards off the bench.

For Kazakhstan, Rustam Yargaliev chipped in 18 points to go along with Ponomarev’s 28.  Yevgeni Isakov added 14 points, and all three players pulled down nine rebounds apiece.

The Tigers out-rebounded the Bishops 45-38 on the night.  KNT also shot 57 percent from the floor in the second half compared to Wesleyan’s 29 percent.

Wesleyan opens in regular season slate next Friday at the Virginia Wesleyan Tip-Off Classic.  The Bishops will face Rutgers-Newark at 6:00 p.m.