The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

THEY WERE prohibited from NCAA post-season play in 2014-15 but Syracuse made the most of their first tournament in over a year, highlighted by two wins over ranked teams.

The Orange outlasted the No.25 ranked Texas A and M Aggies 74-67 to claim the fifth Battle 4 Atlantis title at the Imperial Arena on Friday afternoon.

Michael Gbinije led Syracuse with 20 points and was named the tournament’s most valuable player. Malachi Richardson finished with 16 points, Trevor Cooney finished with 15 points and five assists, while Tyler Lydon added 13 points and eight rebounds off the bench.

Texas A and M were led by Jalen Jones, who finished with 23 points and set a new championship game with 10 made field goals. Danuel House was the only other Aggies payer to reach double figures with 15 points.

Bahamian forward Tavario Miller played just four minutes and did not accumulate any statistics.

Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim credited the support of the Orange faithful, who dominated the crowd of more than 2,000 at the Imperial Arena.

“I think you have to really admire our fans, they were tremendous down here with tremendous support,” he said. “We beat a really good team. We hung in there when things weren’t going our way a couple of times. We had tough games before we came down here and I think that helped us a lot. We know how to battle back in those situations. I think we had great contributions from everyone. I just think this was a great tournament.”

The second half featured seven ties and eight lead changes before a Gbinjie three-pointer gave his team the lead for good with 6 minutes and 8 seconds left to play.

Trailing 35-33, Richardson opened the second half with a three from the corner to regain the lead for the Orange. The score was tied at 40-40 when Tronny Trocha-Morelos scored putbacks on consecutive possessions to push the Aggies lead before Richardson converted a three-point play to keep pace.

The score was tied at 46-46 on a Gbinije three, again at 48-48 with ‘Cuse’s Dejuan Coleman and yet again at 51-51 after the Aggies’ D J Hogg and Lydon traded threes. Jones’ record breaking layup tied the game at 61-61 before another Gbinije three put the Orange ahead for good.

Syracuse finished the game on a 13-2 run to claim the championship. The Orange improved to 6-0 while the Aggies fell to 6-1.

“My focus is just on the next game,” Gbinije said, “We just have to continue to play hard and compete.”

Miller checked into the game for the first time at the 15-minute mark to a slight fanfare from Bahamians in the crowd but the story of the first half for the Aggies was Jones. The senior wing out of Dallas, Texas, scored 16 first half points. He was the first player to reach double figures when his reverse layup gave A & M a 19-18 lead.

“All the hard work we put in is finally coming together,” Jones said, “We just have to stick together and continue to build on this.”

Jones’ three from the right wing gave the Aggies a 33-25 lead with 1 minute 47 seconds left to play in the half.

Syracuse would stage a late rally with back-to-back threes from Richardson and Gbinije, who would also come up with a late steal and force a trip to the free throw line where he made two of three to take a 35-33 deficit into the half.

Aggies head coach Billy Kennedy said despite the loss, his team walks away from the tournament with a positive outlook. “I really believe we should have won. Syracuse is good and you have to give them credit,” he said. “It was a high level game, it was a great experience for our players. To be in that atmosphere three nights in a row, there were three big time games and that’s only going to help us in conference play and help us down the road.”

Syracuse were not allowed to compete in a post-season tournament in 2014-15 following an investigation into a cheating scandal. The school went through a self-imposed ban from competing in the ACC and NCAA tournaments last season, and the NCAA l chose to suspend Boeheim for the first nine conference games this season for a lack of programme control.

These teams last faced each other when 12th-seeded Texas A and M upset fifth-seeded Syracuse 66-58 in the 2006 NCAA Tournament.