Cardinals Defeat Puerto Rico 84-81 on Friday Night
August 15, 2015 | Men's Basketball
Louisville comes up with a win against the Puerto Rico National Team
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| Box Score 
MANATI, Puerto Rico -- After trailing by 13 points in the second half, the University of Louisville men's basketball team came through with an 84-81 victory over the Puerto Rico national team at Juan Aubin Cruz Abreu Municipal Coliseum of Manati on Friday night.
Cleveland State transfer Trey Lewis led the Cardinals in the win with 21 points -- 16 in the second half -- and seven rebounds. Mangok Mathiang had 19 points and eight boards while Damion Lee added 16 points and six boards. Richard Chaney led Puerto Rico with 17 points.
Louisville jumped out to an early led to start the game but trailed 45-42 at the half. Puerto Rico took over in the third quarter, taking a 67-58 lead heading into the final period.
Lewis and Lee took over the final few minutes for the Cardinals, taking the lead at 79-77 with Lee getting a steal and a layup in the final seconds to seal the win.
"You want to learn from mistakes in victory," said UofL Coach Rick Pitino, who coached the Puerto Rico team. "Last night they (Louisville) played a good team and played very well. Tonight they played a lesser team and played poor basketball, except for the end."
Assistant coach Ralph Willard guided the Cardinals in the victory. Pitino is coaching the Puerto Ricans in two international events this summer, including the 10-team, 2015 FIBA Americas Championship in Mexico City, Mexico on Aug. 31-Sept. 12, where the top two teams qualify for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
"I'm a little disappointed in the way they played tonight and happy with the way they played last night," said Pitino about the Cardinals. "They needed a victory tonight more than anything else because they played so hard last night and came away empty (in an overtime loss). Mangok is the only one that I was really pleased with. They (Puerto Rico) couldn't keep him off the backboard."
The Cardinals finished the game shooting 45 percent from the field while outrebounding Puerto Rico 45-30. Louisville collected 11 steals but committed 19 turnovers with 15 assists.
Returning to play after sitting out one game, Chinanu Onuaku finished with 11 points, four rebounds and three assists for the Cards.
The Cardinals will wrap up play in Puerto Rico on Saturday evening a at Ruben Zayas Montanez Coliseum at 6 p.m. Sunday's previously scheduled game was cancelled. The Cardinals' remaining game will be broadcast live through Learfield Sports on WHAS Radio (840 AM) in Louisville. Additionally, barring any local complications, the games will be televised through a live stream with a simple production (not HD) on the UofL Athletics web site at www.GoCards.com/puertorico. A $9.95 fee will provide access to the game, which may be viewed live or on demand for a limited time following the live feed.
