By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

THE Villanova Wildcats added a third Battle 4 Atlantis title to their collection after they triumphed 79-63 over the University of Memphis Tigers on Friday in the championship game at the Imperial Arena, Paradise Island.

The third championship victory, following their wins in 2013 and 2017, made the Wildcats the team with the most titles in the history of the men’s tournament to date.

Additionally, they hold the best win/loss record in the tourney’s history books with 9-0.

Meanwhile, the North Carolina Tar Heels won in convincing fashion against the Arkansas Razorbacks 87-72 in the third place game. Defence was a major key to the Wildcats pulling off the 16-point win over the 5-1 Tigers.

Within the first six minutes of the opening half, the Wildcats got out to a 16-2 lead.

During this period, the Tigers were ice cold and held to 1-for-10 shooting from the field.

Meanwhile, Villanova were on fire from behind the arc, shooting 5-for-8 on threes.

Kyle Neptune, who is in his second season as the Wildcats head coach, talked about the team’s tough defensive effort.

“I really thought we came out and set the tone. I was really proud of the guys, especially in the first 10 minutes or so,” the Wildcats head coach said.

The Big East team pushed out to a 23-8 advantage with under eight minutes remaining in the first half of the contest and closed out the segment leading 44-18.

At the halfway mark, the Tigers were held to under

15 per cent shooting from the field and shot 1-for-12 from three-point range. The second half began and saw the Wildcats’ three-point shot stop falling after they missed their first five attempts in the opening minutes. However, despite the slight dip from the newly-crowned champions on offence, the Tigers were unable to capitalise within those minutes and fell behind 49-20.

The momentum shifted slightly in Memphis’ favour when they stormed out to a 24-3 run to show some signs of life and make the score 67-53. Although the team seemed poised to make a comeback, the Wildcats held them off due to a balanced scoring effort. The 6-1 team had five starters score in double digits, including the tournament’s MVP Eric Dixon who finished with 11 points and eight rebounds.

Dixon averaged 21.6 points and eight boards in the three games played at the 12th Battle 4 Atlantis men’s tournament.

The head coach said the team has grown a lot over the last few games. “We always have a growth mindset. I thought we got a lot better defensively, especially these last three games. That has always been our mindset.”

“We learned a lot about our team here. We were tested and were resilient. We were in some battles, that is what you want. You want to be tested, that is a big thing for a team. We are glad it ended up the way it did,” he said.

On Friday night, the Wildcats shot 43 per cent from the field compared to 35 per cent from their opponents. Additionally, they splashed 37 per cent of their shots from behind the arc. The team collectively dished out 14 assists while the Tigers racked up seven dimes in the championship game.

The third place game between the Razorbacks and Tar Heels saw RJ Davis and Tramon Mark put on an offensive show. The former dropped a career-high 30 points and picked up two assists in the third place win.

For the opposing team, Mark poured in a game-high 34 points to pair with 5 boards in the loss.

The Battle 4 Atlantis women’s and men’s tournaments are officially done with the University of Mississippi Ole Miss Rebels and Villanova Wildcats taking home the respective titles for 2023.