The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE University of Miami Hurricanes made their short trip to the Bahamas a memorable one at the Baha Mar Hoops Bahamas Championships yesterday in the Baha Mar ballroom.

The Hurricanes clinched the men’s championship title with a 91-83 victory over the Kansas State Wildcats, while the Providence Friars took the consolation third place prize home with their 71-64 win over the Georgia Bulldogs.

Hurricanes’ guard Nijel Pack was named the tournament’s most valuable player after he set a new event scoring record for the two-game series between four teams.

Pack was joined in the All-Tournament by his teammate Wooga Poplar, Devin Carter of Providence Friars, Noah Thomasson of Georgia Bulldogs and Arthur Kaluma of Kansas State Wildcats.

The Royal Bahamas Police Force Marching Band entertained the crowd during the half-time show of the championship game on Sunday.

Hurricanes 91, Wildcats 83

After opening a considerable 47-28 margin at the half, the University of Miami stayed on top as they held off every challenge that K-State made in the second half.

Head coach Jim Larranaga said he instructed his Hurricanes to apply an old adage in basketball and that is “not to let the best player on the opposing team beat you.

“Tyler Perry is a great player who can beat you in many ways, but Benseky Joseph prevented that. We got many contributions offensively from Nigel Pack, who was on fire in the first half, Wooga Poplar, who made the All-Tournament team and onmier Nochard, who is an outstanding player. Everybody played well. The guys off the bench did a very good job as well.”

The biggest play may have come with 45.3 seconds with the Hurricanes up 85-76 as Norchad attempted to block a dunk attempt by K-State’s Cam Carter. He completed the pair of free throws for an 87-78 deficit,

At the other end, Norchad canned a pair of charity shots to push the Hurricanes; lead to 87-78. On a turnover by the Wildcats, Norchad was fouled again and canned two more shots for a 89-76 lead.

If there was any consolation for K-State, a member of the Big 12 Conference, had more fans in the stands than UM, who plays out of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Pack led the attack for UM with 28 points. Omier finished with 23 points, seven rebounds, three steals and two assists and both Poplar and Matthew Cleveland had 15 each.

For K-State, Carter scored 28 points as well with five rebounds, four assists and two steals. Arthur Kaluma had 18 points and 12 rebounds and David N’Guessan and Tylor Perry (eight rebounds and five assists) added 10 papeice.

Friars 71, Bulldogs 64: In what he felt was like a home game, Providence’s head coach Kim English said the fans sparked their comeback as they clinched the consolation third place in the tournament on Sunday for the Big East Conference contenders over their Southeastern Conference rivals.

“I would be remiss if I didn’t say how thankful I am to the fans,” English said. “It’s the best thing that I’ve seen since I’ve been in college basketball. We are in Nassau, Bahamas, but it felt as if we were in Rhode Island.

“Our fans came down here in droves and I said it before, it felt like a home game. It felt like a home game. So I want to thank every single fan that made the trip down here to Nassau.”

After they lost their opening game of the tournament on Friday to Kansas State, England said the fans really rallied behind the Friars in the Bahama Resorts and they responded with the win, coming from a slim 34-32 deficit at the half.

Devin Carter and Josh Oduro both posted 19 points with nine rebounds, two assists and a steal to lead the way for Providence, Carter also had 11 rebounds and five assists, while Oduro added nine rebounds, two assists and a steal.

Bryce Hopkins helped out with 15 points, nine rebounds and two assists and Corey Floyd Jr contributed 11 points.

The Bulldogs, coached by Mike White, also got 19 points from Noah Thomasson with five rebounds, two steals and a block and an assist. RJ Melendez Jr had 15 points and five rebounds; Jabri Abdur-Rahim had nine points; Justin Hill seven points and Russel Tchewa six points with four rebounds.

Hurricanes 79, Bulldogs 68: In their opening match on Friday, Miami took advantage of their short trip here to knock off Georgia as Matthew Cleveland led a balanced scoring attack as all starters scored in double figures.

Cleveland, 34 minutes on the court, pumped in 18 points and six rebounds. Pack had 16 points, five rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals; Poplar had 13 points with 11 rebounds; Joseph also had 13 points with six rebounds, three assists and as many steals, while Omier added 11 points with six rebounds and two assists.

In a losing effort, Blue Cain came off the bench and exploded for 18 points with four rebounds and two assists. Noah Thomasson helped out with 14 points and two rebounds; Jabri Abdur-Rahim had 13 points and five rebounds and Silas Demary Jr chipped in with nine points, eight rebounds, seven assists and three steals.

Wildcats 73, Friars 70: Perry scored a game high 24 points with four rebounds, three assists, two block shots and a steal to lead Kansas State to their opening victory on Friday.

Kaluma added 18 points with seven rebounds and two assists; Will McNair Jr had 10 points and four rebounds; Dai Dai Ames also had 120 points with four assists and three rebounds; David N’Guessan six points and six rebounds and Carter had five points, five rebounds and four steals.

As the tournament came to a close, it was announced that the field for the November, 2024 tournament will draw another exciting field with the Tennessee Volunteers, the St John’s Red Storms and Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino; the 2019 National champions Virginia Cavaliers and the 2021 National champions Baylor Bears.