Two former Aggoes entertained fans Friday in EA Sports loss
When the Utah State University men’s basketball team took the court against EA Sports, not only did Aggie fans get to see the team play a real game for the first time this season, they also had a chance to see two former Aggies play.
Bernard Rock, USU’s starting point guard the last two years, and power forward Maurice Spillers took the Spectrum court – only this time on the opposing team.
Both Rock and Spillers started the game for EA Sports, a game USU escaped with a 69-67 overtime victory.
“It was different playing for another team, but not that much different,” Rock said. “Basketball is still basketball.”
Spillers said, “It was definitely great to come back here.”
It didn’t take long for both players to make their presence felt on the court, with Rock picking former teammates Jeremy Vague and Tony Brown’s pockets to start the game.
As for Spillers, he was a force in the low post, scoring 14 points and elevating for three dunks on the night. Spillers also led EA Sports in minutes played with 34.
While both players enjoyed their trip to Logan, Rock and Spillers were still disappointed they didn’t come away with a win.
“We should have won the game,” Rock said.
Spillers said, “It was very disappointing. We come here [to places like USU] to help colleges get better for the regular season, but it’s still tough to lose.”
Brown, a teammate of Rock’s for two years, said it was definitely strange not seeing Rock in Aggie blue and white.
“It’s kind of weird not having him on your side of the court,” Brown said. “It’s fun to play against him and I hope he does really well with those guys.”
When asked how he though the Aggies looked, Spillers said, “They looked pretty solid. They play hard, but they have some work to do.”
As for life after graduation, Rock is living in Arizona and Spillers will resume playing professional basketball, this time in Argentina.
Both Rock and Spillers are getting paid to play for EA Sports as Rock said he is getting paid $1,200 and traveling expenses for the team’s 13 exhibition games.