Francisco Garcia scored 30 points to lead the Dominican Republic national team to a 106-88 win Monday over a team of former University of Kentucky basketball stars now in the NBA. The game was organized by Kentucky coach John Calipari, who has been hired to coach the Dominican Republic team in the FIBA Americas Tournament starting later this month. Calipari knew his squad needed some good competition before heading to the tournament, so he turned to his network for former Kentucky stars in the NBA for help. “All the (Dominican Republic) players came up to me and said, ‘Cal, coach this game to win. This game is big back in our country. Coach us to win,'” Calipari said. “And I did. I told the bench, ‘Look, I'm not subbing a whole lot. We're going to play it out.'” Edgar Sosa scored 29 points for the Dominican Republic and Al Horford, who plays for the Atlanta Hawks, had 17 rebounds and 12 points. Garcia also plays in the NBA for the Sacramento Kings. The Sacramento Kings' DeMarcus Cousins led the team dubbed “the Pros” with 28 points and 14 rebounds. Washington Wizards standout John Wall scored 15 points, while Jodie Meeks of the Philadelphia 76ers had 17.
