Former Vols Chris Lofton and JaJuan Smith played in the opening round of the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament on Thursday.
JaJuan’s team, Cherry, Bekaert and Holland, lost 88-101 to the Portsmouth Sports Club. JaJuan chipped in 13 points on 5-10 shooting, grabbed 7 rebounds and 1 assist in 26 minutes. Those are pretty impressive stats, particularly the rebounds which were second most on the team. Joe Crawford from Kentucky led CBH 19 points.
Lofton’s team, Norfolk Sports Club couldn’t get in the win column either, losing 78-90 to K&D Rounds Landscaping. Chris continued his struggles from three point range, hitting only 2 of 8. He finished with 12 points on 5-12 shooting, 2 assists and 1 steal. Quan Prowell led NSC with 19 points.
Draftexpress.com appears to think highly of Chris Lofton:
The top prospects in our opinion in this year’s tournament include: Pat Calathes, Josh Duncan, Charles Rhodes, Gary Forbes, Kentrell Gransberry, Chris Lofton and others. But we’ll surely be keeping an open mind over the next four days, since someone (Jason Maxiell, Carl Landry in past years) always emerges as being a much better prospect than we initially gave them credit for.
However, after his first game their analysis is: Curtis struggled:
Curtis Lofton struggled in his first game here, forcing some tough shots inside and outside the arc, and not having much success in the early going. He heated up late in the game, hitting a three-pointer and a nice lefty finger roll, but didn’t look very good overall, finishing with 12 points on 12 shot attempts.
The two teams will face each other in a consolation game today at 3:15pm.
[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][UPDATE: 4/11 8:05PM]: Lofton’s team edged JaJuan’s team this afternoon in the consolation game 89-88. Both former Vols took their fair share of shots. JaJuan was 6-20 from the floor for 16 points. He had 7 assists, 8 rebounds and 5 steals in 32 minutes. Lofton was 7-17 shooting totaling 23 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists in 22 minutes.[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]