Quick Hitters Bingham’s dunk gets Spartans past Ramblers at Atlantis

ParadIse IsLaNd, bahamas – marcus bingham Jr. dunked home an alley-oop pass from

Tyson Walker with 3.4 seconds left to lift michigan state past Loyola Chicago 63-61 in Wednesday’s first round of the battle 4 atlantis.

hall got into the paint and lobbed the ball in traffic to bingham on the right side of the lane for the finish. The ramblers had a final chance to tie or win, but braden Norris fell short on a halfcourt heave to end it – sending spartans players to mob bingham in celebration near midcourt after a dramatic finish.

The spartans (4-1) advanced to Thursday’s semifinals to face the winner between No. 19 auburn and No. 22 Connecticut, while the ramblers (4-1) will face the loser of that game in the consolation bracket on Thanksgiving day.

bingham finished with 11 points, nine rebounds and seven blocks for the spartans. malik hall went 9 of 9 from the field, 5 of 5 at the free-throw line, and posted career highs of 24 points in 32 minutes. michigan state shot 46% and won despite committing 20 turnovers.

Lucas Williamson had 16 points and eight rebounds to lead Loyola Chicago, which shot 37% but scored 16 second-chance points.

The game featured a sideline matchup between first-year ramblers coach drew valentine – 30 years old – against hall of Famer Tom Izzo with the spartans. valentine worked two seasons under Izzo as a graduate assistant at michigan state, including a Final Four run in 2015.

This was the opening game of the 10th edition of the battle 4 atlantis, which was on a hiatus last year due to the CovId-19 pandemic.

No. 22 UConn survives, beats No. 19 Auburn in 2OT

ParadIse IsLaNd, bahamas – Tyler Polley scored a career-high 24 points and hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 2:58 left in the second overtime to help No. 22 uConn beat No. 19 auburn 115109 in Wednesday’s first round of the battle 4 atlantis.

adama sanogo finished with a career-best 30 points for the huskies (5-0), who blew a 15-point lead in regulation and squandered a lead late in the first overtime in a wild game. but sanogo and Polley didn’t let the huskies stumble in the second overtime, scoring 14 points as uConn finally pushed ahead for good.

K.d. Johnson and top freshman Jabari smith had their own huge performances for the Tigers (4-1). Johnson scored 23 of his career-high 27 points after halftime, including driving baskets in the final seconds of regulation and the first overtime to extend the game.

smith, meanwhile, had 19 of his 22 after halftime, including the 3-pointer from in front of the auburn bench with 2:39 left to erase the last of a 65-50 deficit near the 11-minute mark.

It was a wild game befitting the only first-round matchup pairing two aP Top 25 teams, down to the teams trading big shots starting in the final minutes of regulation. It went on to be the first double-overtime game in the 10-year history of the atlantis tournament, too.