The Tribune

By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMIANS Valdez “VJ” Edgecombe and Donovan Freeman took the court for the 2024 McDonald’s All-American Game at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas on Tuesday.

The Bahamian duo fell to the East 88-86. The East has now won the prestigious exhibition game 23 times and the West has come out on top on 21 different occasions.

Bimini native VJ Edgecombe chipped in nine points and shot 4-for-8 from the field. He managed to pull down five rebounds and blocked two shots in 22 minutes played.

Meanwhile, Syracuse commit Freeman scored six points after knocking down two triples in 13 minutes played. He also picked up one rebound and one steal in the contest.

The West team outscored the East 21-16 in the first quarter of the ball game.

Edgecombe got it going in the second quarter when he threw down a big dunk which was answered by Duke commit Cooper Flagg in the second quarter.

At this point, the West was ahead 30-19 with 6:21 remaining on the clock.

The five-star prospect was once again involved in a highlight reel moment after receiving a lob from Texas commit Tre Johnson in transition.

This play was followed by a big three which gave the West a 42-25 advantage at the 1:25 mark.

The East managed to gain some ground and shaved the deficit down to just seven points (44-37) going into the halftime break. The East came out of the break poised to make a run and they did. After trimming West’s lead down to just 5 they pulled off an unanswered 8-0 run to now lead 55-54 with 4:00 on the clock.

The East ultimately out-scored the West 25-22 in the third quarter.

With under two minutes remaining on the clock, Edgecombe committed a costly turnover which led to Maryland commit Derik Queen scoring a quick layup to give the East an 86-83 lead.

The West had a chance at a game-winning three-point attempt down the stretch but were unable to connect.

Queen scored the most points for the East with 23 and Rutgers Dylan Harper scored a team-high 22 points for the West.

The McDonald’s All-American Game MVP honours were given to both players. Edgecombe and Freeman joined a shortlist of Bahamians to play in the game including Deandre Ayton and Harbour Island native Lashann Higgs.