Former Spartan Teammates Have Been Facing Off Overseas

Game 1 was on Saturday, when Trapani bested Pallacanestro Reggiana, 80-75. Winston had a solid all-around performance, recording 6 points, seven assists and four rebounds in 27 minutes. Brown, meanwhile, went scoreless in his 8 minutes of play but grabbed three boards.

The two teams met again in Game 2 on Monday, with Trapani once again coming out on top, this time in a more lopsided outing, prevailing 102-88. Winston posted 12 points, six assists and four rebounds in 22 minutes. Brown tallied 2 points, two rebounds and an assist in his team's win.

Trapani needs just one win to advance to the semifinal round, with an opportunity to do so in Thursday's Game 3.

Both Winston and Brown had stints in the NBA. Winston spent some time with the Washington Wizards after being drafted by the Oklahoma City Thunder with the 53rd overall pick of the 2020 NBA Draft.

Brown went undrafted in 2022 but was signed by the Toronto Raptors, ultimately spending the 2022 and 2023 seasons with Raptors 905, the club's G League affiliate, and has been in the Basket Lega Serie A ever since.

Together, Winston and Brown won back-to-back Big Ten regular season titles at Michigan State, which included a trip to the Final Four in 2019. Winston is considered one of the greatest players in the program's history and holds the program's all-time record for career assists.

Brown would lead the Spartans in scoring in his final season (2021-22), averaging 11.6 points per game. He would be named a third-team All-Big Ten honoree. The Spartans fell to No. 2-seeded Duke in the second round of the NCAA Tournament that season.

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