May 25, 2006

University of New Mexico men's basketball player Aaron Johnson is putting up some impressive numbers this week as a member of a collegiate all-star team playing in the Dominican Republic. The 6-7, 240-pound Johnson, who will be a senior center for UNM in 2006-07, has posted three double-doubles in as many games for SCORE International, an eight-man team comprised of underclassmen from Georgia (Mike Mercer and Rashaad Singleton), Georgia State (Leonard Mendez), Mississippi State (Piotr Stelmach), South Carolina (Dominique Archie and Zam Frederick) and Vanderbilt (George Drake).

SCORE is 3-0 on the tour after dispatching a local professional team from La Romana, 95-64. Johnson had 16 points and collected a team-high 13 rebounds. He had a team-high 19 points and 10 boards in SCORE's 90-73 victory over the University of Santo Domingo on Monday.

The all-star team has been performing a vast amount of good deeds during the trip as well. On Monday, they visited a local orphanage where they brought much-needed items such as food and diapers. The group also presented each of the 114 children with a t-shirt with the children's names printed on the back. The team went to a local supermarket on Wednesday to purchase food that was presented to 23 families in a local village. Traveling on dirt roads to reach the one-room school, the team presented their bags of food to local women and children.

SCORE will play its final contest tonight against the Dominican National team in the capital of Santo Domingo. The game is expected to be televised throughout the Caribbean country.