The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

THE Baylor Bears have put pollsters on notice – this team warrants national recognition and is primed for a tournament run in March.

The Bears claimed the 2016 Battle 4 Atlantis championship with a 66-63 win over the Louisville Cardinals at the Atlantis Resort’s Imperial Arena on Friday afternoon.

Baylor overcame a 20-point deficit to remain undefeated at 6-0 and notch their third win over a ranked team this season. They also defeated No.4 Oregon and No.24 Michigan State in the Battle 4 Atlantis semi-finals on Thursday.

Johnathan Motley was named the tournament’s MVP and finished with 15 points, six rebounds and two assists despite playing much of the game in foul trouble. For the tournament, he averaged 20 points and 7.3 rebounds per game.

The Bears received a major lift from their bench with 15 points from King McClure, 12 from Terry Maston and eight from Jake Lindsey.

The Cardinals suffered their first loss of the season and became the first team to lose two Battle 4 Atlantis championship games after being beaten by Duke in the 2012 finals.

Louisville got a combined 31 points from their backcourt with Queintin Snyder’s 17 and Donovan Mitchell’s 14. Jaylen Johnson was the only other Cards player in double figures with 10.

After being outscored 39-24 in the first half, Baylor won the second half 42-24 to complete the comeback.

Louisville opened the game on a 13-4 run to take a double digit lead just over seven minutes into the game. The lead reached 20 when Ray Spalding made a short jumper in the post for a 25-5 advantage with 7min 51sec left in the half. They continued that momentum in the second half, leading by as much as 18 points before Baylor went on 27-12 run over the next 10 minutes to work their way back into contention.

Trailing 56-53, it was the reserve backcourt of McClure and Lindsey who put the Bears ahead. Lindsey found McClure on a layup to pull within one and on consecutive possessions, came up with a pair of steals at half-court and fastbreak layups to go ahead 59-56. Mitchell’s three tied the game for Louisville but Motley put the Bears ahead for good on the next possession with his driving dunk over the outstretched hand of Anas Mahmoud.

Motley, Mitchell and Snider were each named to the All-Tournament team along with Miles Bridges, of Michigan State, and Markis McDuffie, of Wichita State.