- Simba French
- Nov 27, 2023
- 0
The Villanova University Wildcats (6-1) claimed their third Battle 4 Atlantis (B4A) title with a dominant 79-63 victory over the University of Memphis Tigers (5-1) at the Imperial Arena at the Atlantis Paradise Island resort on Friday as the tournament came to a close.
The Wildcats did a lot of their damage in the first half of the game, when they played some stifling defense and held the Tigers to just 18 points. They finished with a balanced scoring attack with all five starters scoring in double-digits. They were led by TJ Bamba with 13 points.
“I really thought we came out and set the tone,” Neptune said. “I was really proud of our guys, especially the first 10 minutes or so. We played extremely hard, really locked in. Every player gave it their all.”
The Wildcats’ Eric Dixon who scored 11 points on Friday, won the Battle 4 Atlantis Most Valuable Player award. He averaged 21.6 points and eight rebounds per game in the tournament.
It was a fluid first half for the Wildcats from deep where they shot 8-for-19 to shoot 42.1 percent from the field. The Tigers went 1-for-12 from deep in that half to shoot just 8.3 percent from that spot. It was a tough first half on the whole for the Tigers who went 4-for-27 to shoot just 14.8 percent. The Wildcats had a strong first half shooting 15-for-34 from the field to shoot 44.1 percent.
The Tigers were able to make the game a respectable one when they went on a 24-3 run in the second half to cut the margin to 67-53 with just over four minutes remaining in the game. That lead got back to 20 points when Bamba got a slam dunk with 51 seconds left to go up 79-59. It was too late for the Tigers to mount a comeback.
“That first half was definitely a nightmare,” Memphis coach Penny Hardaway said. “We couldn’t make a shot, couldn’t get a rebound. We couldn’t do anything right. You could just see the team losing confidence by the second. We never changed momentum.”
Neptune was impressed with the B4A tournament.
“This is a big-time tournament. It’s always extremely well done. It’s a good stomping ground for us,” Neptune said.
Earlier in the week, Bahamian Yolett McPhee-McCuin, head coach of the number 24 nationally ranked Ole Miss University Rebels lifted the B4A women’s title. They easily took care of the University of Michigan Wolverines 60-49.