Aug. 21, 2001

The Villanova Men's Basketball team dropped a 77-59 decision to Palla Canestro Triesta, an Italian Professional team in a game played Sunday evening in Porto San Giorgio, Italy. The Wildcats fell behind early in the contest trailing 23-20 at the end of the first quarter. The halftime score found the home team in front 36-29 and Palla Canestro Triesta pulled away to begin the second half behind the shooting of former Oklahoma guard Nate Erdmann. Erdmann ended the night with 16 points while fellow American Derrell Washington added 17 points and 8 rebounds.

Villanova sophomore guard Derrick Snowden led the 'Cats with a game-high 20 points on 6-for-12 shooting including 3-for-3 from behind the arc and a perfect 5-for-5 from the foul line. Snowden is averaging 17 points in the first two games of the European tour. Another strong performance for the Wildcats came from junior forward Andrew Sullivan who ended the night with 11 points, shooting 4-for-8 from the field while also contributing 10 rebounds, six coming on the offensive glass. Among other Wildcats, Ricky Wright finished with six points and five rebounds, Brooks Sales added seven points and three rebounds, Reggie Bryant chipped in with seven points while Gary Buchanan and Jair Veldhuis added six and two points, respectively.

With the loss, Villanova falls to 1-1 on their European tour. The Wildcats were victorious in Game one of the tour defeating San Piux of Milan, a 22 & under Italian professional team by a score of 85-68. Villanova will return to action in the same venue in Porto San Giorgio Monday night to take on the Italian National team. Tip-off is set for 8:45 P.M. local time (2:45 P.M. Eastern Standard Time). The 'Cats will round out play Tuesday and Wednesday night before returning home this Sunday afternoon.