With a hard-fought 45-40 victory over Serbia in the championship match, the Concordia Stingers men’s basketball team won the second annual Friendship Games in Tel Aviv, Israel on Thursday night.
All-star guard Damian Buckley scored 15 points to lead the Stingers. Teammate Andre Johnny chipped in 11 points.
The Friendship Games offer college students from 17 different countries the opportunity to compete in a round-robin style basketball tournament with each team playing five games. The experience also includes tours of Jerusalem, the Dead Sea, Nazareth, Sea of Galilee, Tiberias and Tel-Aviv-Jaffa.
The Friendship Games program was conceived in 2006 by Atlanta Hawks co-owner Ed Peskowitz who felt the game of basketball could begin to unify countries on a grassroots level.
”I think the concept of the Friendship Games is terrific,” said Concordia head coach John Dore. “It’s peace through sport. It builds bridges and has just been an incredible experience for our kids.”
In the opening rounds, Concordia defeated China 46-36, Italy 65-36 and Nazareth 71-29. All-Canadian forward Patrick Perrotte scored 16 points to lead the Stingers to a 62-51 victory over Ireland in the semifinals.
Coach Dore and the team return to Montreal Saturday afternoon after 17 days and two tournaments in Israel. The Stingers also won the International Academic Sport Association Tournament in Be’er Shava on May 31.
