CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.---The Chattanooga Mocs freshmen duo of Chris Early and Ricky Taylor joined a SCORE International team of athletes for a summer basketball exhibition tour to Costa Rica. The team played seven games with a record of 6-1.
Taylor led the team averaging 24.1 points per game. His best game was the first of the trip with 36 points, including shooting 10-of-12 from three-point range, in leading SCORE International to a 136-75 win over Naranjo.
Early, averaged 14.4 points and 8.7 rebounds per contests, those averages were second on the team in each category. His high point total of 29 came in a 126-122 over Limon in the sixth game of the trip.
Early notched a double-double in two games and led the squad with 20 points and nine boards in game five's 77-67 win over Santa Cecilia, which avenged the game two loss to the Costa Rican professional team who was undefeated in its league's play.
The trip was not just a basketball tour. Team members did humanitarian work by feeding Nicaraguan refugees as well visited churches and missionaries.
RICKY TAYLOR ON COSTA RICA: “The basketball was great, but that wasn't the best part. The spiritual aspect really excited me. Whether we won or lost, the main thing was seeing the impact of the message and seeing people give their lives to Christ.”
CHRIS EARLY ON COSTA RICA: “It really makes me appreciate what we have here. Looking around at how little people had, and where they lived and how they lived...it was a real eye-opener.”
Go here for a Mark Wiedmer column on Chris Early in the Chattanooga Times Free Press.
