By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

The Villanova University Wildcats snuck past the North Carolina Tar Heels in an 83-81 overtime thriller to advance to their third Battle 4 Atlantis finals yesterday at the Imperial Arena, Paradise Island.

The semifinals victory gave them their fifth win of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) season and the Tar Heels suffered their first loss to drop to 4-1.

The Wildcats are now scheduled to face the Memphis Tigers in the final round today after the latter stopped the Arkansas Razorbacks 84-79.

Fans at the Imperial Arena were given a Thanksgiving treat courtesy of the Wildcats and Tar Heels men’s basketball teams. Both squads came into the matchup following blowout wins against their respective opponents in the opening round and wanted nothing more than to advance to the championship game.

In the opening quarter, both teams showed up to play and were unable to create a significant margin on the scoreboard. The Tar Heels still managed to separate the teams by 2 (34-32) to prepare for the second half of NCAA basketball.

Despite a small lead going into the second half, the Tar Heels and Wildcats remained neck and neck in the semifinals contest.

The game was tied multiple times in the second half until the Tar Heels got a nine-point advantage (55-46) after guard RJ Davis knocked down a jumper at 10:52.

However, the Wildcats erased the lead with a 9-0 run and some strong offensive play by Eric Dixon to even the score at 57.

The Wildcats forward had a career night in points with 34 to pair alongside 10 rebounds for a monster double-double in the win. He shot 11-for-19 on 58 per cent shooting and made three buckets from behind the arc.

It was a see-saw affair the rest of the way in the second half. The final moments of regulation saw Dixon once again knock down a big two-pointer, this time at 3:08 to propel the Wildcats by 3. Tar Heels guard Ryan Cormac splashed a three-pointer from the corner on an assist from Elliot Cadeau to match the Wildcats on the scoreboard at 68.

The extra period of play got underway but the pattern of the game remained the same. Both teams refused to give an edge until Villanova’s Justin Moore, who scored five points in OT, converted two shots at the charity stripe to make the lead 81-76.

Davis, of North Carolina, responded with a two-pointer and on the night had a team-high 23 points in the loss. Villanova guard Mark Armstrong had 10 points in the game, two of which were successful free throws to ice the game for the Wildcats.

Harrison Ingram dropped 20 points on 6-for-8 shooting for the Tar Heels in the loss. Meanwhile, forward Armando Bacot scored eight points and pulled down 18 rebounds.

The championship game begins at 3:30pm and the third place match will be played at 1pm today in the Imperial Arena.