(July 5, 2005) ?C Fordham University sophomore forward Bryant Dunston has just returned from a tour of England and Ireland with the NIT All-Star Team, helping the squad to a perfect 7-0 record on the trip. The team, which is made up of players from Division I institutions, was selected based on recommendations from coaches and league commissioners.
The NIT squad played against four teams in London from June 24-June 27, then traveled to Ireland and played three teams in Limerick from June 30-July 1.
Dunston, the 2005 Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year, averaged 12.2 ppg and 7.8 rpg with ten blocks.
Dunston enjoyed his best game in the opener, scoring 25 points and adding 13 rebounds and two blocks in a 98-78 win over the Reading Rockets. He followed that with a 15-point, six-rebound, two-block effort in a 113-57 victory in the first of two games with the England University Games Team.
In the second meeting with the England University Games Team, Dunston netted 14 points and added 11 rebounds for his second double-double of the trip.
Dunston closed out the trip scoring 10 points and pulling down eight rebounds in a 95-70 win over the Belgium U20 National Team in Limerick.
Dunston, who was also named the Metropolitan Basketball Writer??s Rookie of the Year, led the 2004-05 Rams with a 14.9 ppg average, seventh best in the Atlantic 10, and with an 8.6 rpg average, second best in the league. His 62 blocks on the year was also a team-high and the second best total in the Atlantic 10. Dunston shot 52.0% (154-296) from the field, the second best in the conference this year.
On the year, Dunston accumulated 431 points, the second most by a Fordham freshman, behind Bevon Robin who netted 495 points in 1997-98.