Lawrence, Draper Participate In London International Basketball Invitational
8/18/2011 7:52:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Click Here For Great Britain vs. Croatia Postgame Video
LONDON - Rising College of Charleston men's basketball junior point guard Andrew Lawrence (London, England) as well as former CofC standout Dontaye Draper (Baltimore, Md.) are currently participating in the London International Basketball Invitational from Aug. 16-21 at the 2012 London Olympics Basketball Arena.
Lawrence, who holds U.S. and UK dual citizenship, has spent the summer back home in pursuit of a spot on the Great Britain National Team as the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in his hometown of London approaches. He was one of seven U-20 and Futures players added to the European Championships roster by Great Britain head coach Chris Finch. This past season, Lawrence played in 36 games with two starts averaging 5.8 points and 1.8 rebounds for the Cougars. He also made a team-high 37 steals and was fourth-best with 62 assists.
The six-team tournament is an Olympic test event in preparation for next month's 2011 European and Asian championships, and the Olympic qualifying rounds. Great Britian opened the tournament with an 80-58 first-round loss to France led by NBA star Tony Parker on Aug. 16. Lawrence saw 16 minutes of action with five points, one assist and one block in his debut.
Meanwhile Draper, who starred for the Cougars from 2003-07, is currently in the process of acquiring Croatian citizenship. He is one of 25 players listed as a candidate for the Croatian National Team. Draper spent the 2010-11 campaign with Cedevita Zagreb and was chosen as the 2011 Eurocup MVP.
In his debut season, Draper led Cedevita from the qualifying round to the Eurocup Finals as the team's undisputed floor general and star. He averaged 15.8 points, 4.1 rebounds, a league-high 6.5 assists, 2.2 steals and 6.3 fouls drawn in 12 games. Draper also led the Eurocup in performance index rating and assists, while ranking third in steals and fourth in scoring.
Both Cougars faced each other on Aug. 17 as Lawrence played a team-high 31 minutes with 10 points including a 5-for-6 performance from the free throw line and three rebounds and two assists in Great Britain's 75-70 loss to Croatia. Draper had two points with two assists off the bench.
Great Britain will play Serbia on Aug. 18, China on Aug. 20 and Australia on Aug. 21. CofC Basketball fans can follow 2012 Olympic hopefuls Lawrence and Draper throughout the London International Basketball Invitational at www.London2012.FIBA.com.
