The Ville’s run in The Basketball Tournament is over, and it ended in the toughest way possible: back in Memorial Coliseum, against La Familia, with a trip to the next round on the line.
Louisville’s alumni team fell 63-57 on Wednesday in the third and deciding game of its opening-round series, dropping the best-of-three matchup 2-1 and suffering its earliest exit in four years in the event. The Ville had already split the first two games - losing 72-68 on Saturday before bouncing back with an 82-62 win on Monday - but couldn’t finish the job on Kentucky’s home floor.
For a stretch, it looked like The Ville might be headed for another comfortable night. The UofL alumni jumped out to a 21-10 lead with 41 seconds left in the opening quarter, leaning on defense and work on the glass to build the cushion. They held La Familia to 4-of-12 shooting in the first period and owned a 12-7 rebounding edge, including six offensive boards, to take a 21-13 lead after one.
But the game changed fast.
The Ville’s offense cooled off, and La Familia started to take control over the second and third quarters. The Kentucky alumni put together a 31-13 run that erased the deficit and flipped an 11-point hole into a seven-point lead by the 3:03 mark of the third quarter. Louisville’s alumni team tried to answer, but the momentum had already swung.
At halftime, The Ville still led 30-25 despite going just 3-of-17 in the second quarter. La Familia wasn’t sharp either, shooting 6-of-15 in the period, but the second half belonged to the UK group. They went 9-of-14 in the third quarter and scored 16 of the first 20 points after the break, outscoring The Ville 20-10 in the period to take a 45-40 lead into the fourth.
The Ville kept hanging around and even cut the margin to one in the fourth. They eventually forced the game into the Elam Ending down 55-51, and for a moment they were right back in it. Trey Lewis opened the Elam Ending with a three, then after a Darryl Morsell jumper, Montrezl Harrell knocked down a three to tie the game.
That was as close as Louisville’s alumni got.
Morsell answered with another jumper, Archie Goodwin followed with back-to-back shots, and La Familia closed out the final six points to seal it.
Harrell led The Ville with 18 points, and Lewis added 16. Goodwin finished with a game-high 22 points for La Familia, including the game-winner, while Morsell scored 20.
The shooting numbers told the story, too. After lighting it up in Monday’s win, The Ville went just 22-of-60 from the field and an icy 6-of-31 from three. La Familia shot 26-of-53 overall and finished with eight blocks+steals, compared to four for The Ville.
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