Field Level Media
Nov 27, 2021
Jarrod West keyed a late rally as Louisville survived a see-saw second half in a 63-55 win over Maryland in the title game of the Bahamas Championship on Saturday morning in Nassau.
Malik Williams contributed 13 points and 12 rebounds and Noah Locke added 12 points as the Cardinals (5-1) won their fourth straight game. Early in the second half, Louisville squandered an eight-point lead and found itself down by five before rallying.
Four-year assistant Mike Pegues now hands the reins back to head coach Chris Mack, who was serving a six-game suspension for his handling of the offseason dismissal of assistant coach Dino Gaudio.
Maryland (5-2) was led by Donta Scott, who scored 14 points and collected six rebounds. Fatts Russell added 11 points and six boards. Scott drained a pair of 3-pointers as the Terps went on a 13-point run to take a 47-42 lead with less than seven minutes left before the Cardinals rallied.
Locke triggered the spurt with a fadeaway jumper, followed by a 3-pointer from Matt Cross. Then West took over, scoring Louisville's next seven points, including a long-distance 3-pointer with 3:47 left which gave the Cardinals the lead for good. West finished with nine points and six assists.
Over the final 2:40, Williams helped preserve the advantage as he scored on a feed from West and made all four of his free throws.
Early in the game, Xavier Green hit a difficult fadeaway 3-pointer to give Maryland a seven-point lead. But midway through the first half, Louisville went on a 12-2 run to turn a five-point deficit into a five-point lead. Dre Davis scored four straight points in the spree and Roosevelt Wheeler followed with an emphatic slam dunk.
--Field Level Media