Justin Harper in France: Orlando Magic Rookie Scores An Efficient 17 As Strasbourg IG Defeats Poitiers

Justin Harper put together his third consecutive outstanding game for Strasbourg IG on Saturday night, scoring a team-high 17 points to lead it to a 79-78 victory against Poitier. Harper, the lone Orlando Magic player to take his talents overseas during the NBA lockout, shot 6-of-10 from the field (4-of-6 on three-pointers) and hauled in six rebounds in just 28 minutes. Four other Strasbourg players scored in double-figures, including Philadelphia 76ers rookie Lavoy Allen. Strasbourg overcame 23 points from 19-year-old swingman Evan Fournier to pull out its second consecutive win and improve to 4-3 on the season.

After an uneven start to his overseas career, Harper has improved of late, averaging 15.8 points in 28.8 minutes over his last four games. During that span, the former Richmond Spiders star has connected on 53.5 percent of his field-goal attempts (52.4 percent on three-pointers).

On the season, Harper's averaging 13.6 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 1 steal per game in 28 minutes, shooting 47.3 percent from the field, 42.4 percent from three-point range, and 68.8 percent from the foul line.

Its victory Saturday night moves Strasbourg into a three-way tie for sixth place in the 16-team Pro A division of the Ligue Nacional de Basketball. Next week, it takes on ASVEL, which features former NBA Finals MVP Tony Parker of the San Antonio Spurs, who also owns a 20 percent stake of the team. NBA role players Ronny Turiaf and Hilton Armstrong also play for that club, which stands at 3-4 following its win against Chalon on Friday night.

Orlando Pinstriped Post will continue to monitor Harper's overseas career. This page includes his complete stats and game log. Recaps of each of his games can be found here.