Augustana senior Kyle Nelson and his teammates are in China. He will be blogging regularly on D3hoops.com about the team’s journey.

Today was the first day of the trip that was dedicated just to basketball. We woke up and bused about thirty minutes to Huazhong Normal University for a game day practice. The gym was very nice, very big, but very hot. There was no air conditioning in the building and as practice wore on it got more and more difficult to keep our footing. Huazhong Normal was very gracious to allow us to practice in their facility. Augustana has had a long running friendship with Normal due to a student and teacher exchange program that dates back into the 1980s. This relationship allowed us to gain access to their gym free of charge.

After practice we had a few hours to cool down before we ate a pregame meal and got back on the bus for our game. The game was in another part of Wuhan and was against Huazhong University of Science and Technology. HUST is very comparable to the size of a Big Ten school. There are about 50,000 students that attend the university and it is one of the best universities academically. It also happens to be one of the top Universities for basketball at the college level in China.

When we drove up to the arena our bus was greeted by a massive red sign that had many Chinese symbols on it, but also unmistakably said Augustana right in the middle. We walked into the gym, which seats around 6,000, and saw the massive scoreboard which read China HUST versus USA Augustana. This was the moment that it hit us that this game was more than just two college teams; it was two teams representing their countries. The team got dressed and we took multiple pictures in front of the various signs that had our name.

There were about 4,800 people in attendance for the game and the crowd was very loud and energetic from warm-ups to the final buzzer. HUST has quite a few big players including a center who could have passed for a sumo wrestler. From the tip to the first quarter it was a pretty neck and neck game, with both teams playing very well. However, in the second quarter we began to pull away with great team defense to get a 23 point lead at halftime. From this point there was no looking back and we cruised to an 80-56 victory for team USA.

Augustana beat Huazhong University of Science and Technology 80-56.

Once the game was over was when the madness began. We were all swarmed by the Chinese fans and asked to take pictures with just about everyone, from adults to babies. At one point I was just handed someone’s child and took about three or four pictures with him. Not only was the game memorable, but I think everyone will take away a great feeling from this game for how we were received as honored guests in Wuhan, China.

One final day in Wuhan then off to Xi’an!

Kyle Nelson

The game story follows:

WUHAN, China – Playing without starting point guard Brian DeSimone (Buffalo Grove HS, Arlington Heights, Ill.) didn’t seem to faze Augustana as the Vikings defeated Huazhong University of Science and Technology by a score of 80-56 on August 9 in Wuhan, China. DeSimone was ill and missed the contest but senior Drew Croegaert (Geneseo HS, Geneseo, Ill.) and junior Eric Safranski (Putnam County HS, Granville, Ill.) stepped up and performed well. Croegaert and Safranski combined for nine assists and one turnover in the game.

“This was a solid effort, especially without our starting point guard,” said head coach Grey Giovanine. “Once again our depth and ability to play hard the whole way made the difference.”

The game was close after the first quarter with Augustana clinging to a 15-14 lead. Solid defensive play in the second quarter helped forge a 31-12 run during that 10 minute session and the Vikings led 46-26 at halftime.

“We converted several steals into easy baskets in the second period and that really helped,” said Giovanine, whose team is now 2-0 on the China trip.

Brandon Kunz (Lake Zurich HS, Lake Zurich, Ill.) led the team in scoring with 12 points and he grabbed eight rebounds as well. Kyle Nelson (Deerfield HS, Deerfield, Ill.) contributed 10 points and Bryant Voiles (Byron HS, Byron, Ill.) added eight rebounds. The Vikings held a plus 13 advantage in the rebounding department and grabbed 18 offensive boards.

The Augustana defense held Huazhong to just 16 of 54 from the field and only three of 14 from three point range after giving up 10 three pointers in the opening game of the trip on Saturday. In that 82-66 win over the Dongguan Snow Wolves the Vikings surrendered 10 of 26 from three point range.

This game drew particular interest on Huazhong campus as a capacity crowd of 4,800 was in attendance to watch the Vikings put on what amounted to defensive and rebounding clinic.

“What a great experience for our players to compete in an environment with nearly 5,000 fans who were really into the game,” said Giovanine. “The crowd was appreciative at how hard our guys competed and they cheered every hustle play we made and we made a lot of those.”

Augustana will play Xi’ian University on Aug. 12.