The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

THE opening session of the fifth annual Battle 4 Atlantis saw the favourites easily advance to the winner’s circle in a pair of dominating performances in the Atlantis resort’s Imperial Arena.

In game one, senior forward, preseason All-American and Naismith Award candidate Kyle Wiltjer lived up to expectations, leading the No.10 ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs to an 80-64 win over the Washington Huskies. He finished with a game high 24 points and 12 rebounds while Domanatas Sabonis added 17 points and Przemek Karnowski finished with 12.

Gonzaga head coach Mark Few said the domination by his frontcourt on both ends of the floor keyed the win. “It wasn’t pretty, but I liked how tough we played, I liked our approach,” he said.

“I thought we played very, very, very well on the defensive end, especially on that first shot. That was our plan, and we were able to hold our own on the glass.”

Wiltjer’s unorthodox style, particularly in the post, drew early foul trouble for the Huskies, particulary freshman standout Marquese Chriss who fouled out with just four points in 14 minutes.

“Watching film, they left their feet a lot. I wanted to be aggressive but smart because they are shot blockers. It was effective on all levels,” Wiltjer said. “Like coach was saying in the huddle ... when a game gets like that we don’t have to run a play every time,” Wiltjer said.

“Sometimes we weren’t running the plays that we were in practices. Sometimes you just have to punch a gap.”

The Huskies were led by Andrew Andrews and Dejounte Murray who each finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds.

Gonzaga and Washington had a popular rivalry in the 1980s and 1990s but recently have not played since 2006. They planned to renew the rivalry with a home-and-away series in 2016, but the Battle 4 Atlantis provided a preview a year early.

In game two, the Syracuse Orange caught fire from three-point range early and never relinquished the lead in an 83-70 win over the Charlotte 49ers.

Michael Gbinije had 26 points and went 6-8 from behind the three-point line for Syracuse. Trevor Cooney had 19 and Tyler Lydon added 18 points and eight rebounds.

“I had a lot of open opportunities and I was able to cash in on it,” said Gbinije. “Whenever I’m out there, I’m always looking to score. Given the opportunity, I just try to look for my spots and go with the flow. It’s definitely nice to know we have a fanbase that comes all the way to The Bahamas and shows us some love.”

Joseph Uchebo led the 49ers with 16 points.

The Orange raced out to a 50-27 lead at halftime, paced by Gbinije and Cooney’s combined 31 points in the first half. “Mike and Trevor got us going and shot extremely well, had really good ball movement. We played good defence,” Orange head coach Jim Boeheim said. “I thought Dajuan (Coleman) was good, it’s the most active he’s been. He had a good start, good opportunities but missed a couple on the inside. But he got a lot of minutes and I think he was very productive.”

Gonzaga is scheduled to play Texas A&M 1pm today while Syracuse is slated to face the winner of Michigan/UConn last night. The latter game tips off at 3:30pm.