The Baylor Bears rallied back from a 22-point first-half deficit against Louisville to win the Battle 4 Atlantis championship game 66-63, on Saturday. Johnathan Motley and King McClure each scored 15 points as the Bears outscored the Cardinals 42-24 in the second half to charge to a victory.
Battle 4 Atlantis 2016: Bracket, schedule, teams, and scores
Baylor is the champion at the Battle 4 Atlantis.
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Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
Baylor made its way to the final by beating VCU 71-63 in its first game and then dominating 24th-ranked Michigan State 73-58 in the semifinal round.
The Bears trailed Louisville early on in the championship game, with Louisville stretching its lead to 22 points in the first half. But despite trailing by 15 at halftime, Baylor pulled off an impressive second-half comeback, keyed by a 17-2 run for Baylor over a nearly seven-minute span in the later part of the second-half.
This game moves Baylor to a perfect 6-0 record this season, including wins over three ranked teams (Oregon, Michigan State, and now Louisville) as well as another noteworthy win over VCU. Baylor’s run at the Battle 4 Atlantis pads their early-season resume before what should be a serious battle with the likes of Kansas and Oklahoma for superiority in the Big 12.
Baylor will look to become the third Battle 4 Atlantis winner in a row to make the Final Four. In 2014, Frank Kaminsky and Sam Dekker helped Wisconsin over Buddy Hield and Oklahoma, while last season’s tournament saw Syracuse outlast Texas A&M in the title game. Six of the eight teams at last year’s event went on to make the NCAA Tournament.
Here’s a recap with everything you need to know about the 2016 Battle 4 Atlantis:
The teams
Michigan State
Louisville
Baylor
St. John’s
Wichita State
LSU
VCU
Old Dominion
The Bracket
The schedule (all times ET)
Wednesday, Nov. 23
Game 1: Wichita State 82, LSU 47
Game 2: Baylor 71, VCU 63
Game 3: Michigan State 73, St. John’s 62
Game 4: Louisville 68 Old Dominion 62
Thursday, Nov. 24
Game 5: Baylor 73, Michigan State 58
Game 6: Louisville 62, Wichita State 52
Game 7: VCU 75, St John’s 69
Game 8: LSU 66, Old Dominion 60
Friday, Nov. 25
Game 9 (3rd place game): Michigan State 77, Wichita State 72
Game 10 (Championship game): Baylor 66, Louisville 63
Game 11 (5th place game): VCU 85, LSU 74
Game 12 (7th place game): Old Dominion 63, St. John’s 55
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