Are you getting a case of the Deja Vu’s? I know I am. We’ve got a 1996 National Championship rematch! The ’96 Syracuse team was led by head coach Jim Boeheim, who happens to be the person that the Syracuse Alumni team took their team’s name after and is led by his sons Buddy Boeheim and Jimmy Boeheim. Kentucky won the ’96 National Championship, will La Familia be able to relive that magic and come out with the win? Or will Boeheim’s Army get their revenge on the Wildcats 30 years later?
Archie Goodwin and Willie Cauley-Stein will look to start were they left off last game for La Familia, while Tyson Walker will look to continue his dominance for Boeheim’s Army after a near triple-double last game.
Starting Lineups:
La Familia: Andrew Harrison, Darryll Morsell, Archie Goodwin, James Mainor-Bell, and Willie Cauley-Stein
Boeheim’s Army: Tyson Walker, Buddy Boeheim, Elijah Hughes, Cole Swider, and Kaodirichi Akobundu-Ehiougu
Into The Game:
We got some action early in this one. Back-to-back-to-back threes to start for La Familia, including a four-point play by Andrew Harrison who started off 2-2 from three-point range.
La Familia was on fire! They jumped out to an early 13-5 lead, starting 4-5 from the field leading to an early timeout. Defensively, offensively, everything was going their way.
Led by Andrew Harrison and Darryl Morsell who both had 7 points in the quarter on a combined 5-5 field goals, La Familia had a 20-14 lead after the first quarter.
Back-and-forth, both teams were trading blows to start the second quarter. An 8-8 start kept the fans in HMC on their toes. Archie Goodwin starting off on fire, scoring 8 of their first 12 points. Despite the hot start from Archie, Boeheim’s Army kept themselves in the game on the back of Ty Nichols who scored 13 of their first 18 points in the quarter.
The three-point shooting by Boeheim’s Army was making things difficult for La Familia, leading to a big second quarter where they made things interesting.
Tying up the game at 32 a piece, La Familia was able to fight back and take a slight 39-36 lead into the half
Both teams played well offensively in the first half. La Familia shot 13-26 (50%) and Boeheim’s Army shot 13-28 (46%) from the field. It was a showdown between Archie Goodwin (17 points) & Ty Nichols (18 points). Who will get the upper hand in the second half?!
Halftime: La Familia 39, Boeheim’s Army 36
We didn’t have to wait for action in the second half. Morsell to Cauley-Stein for the alley-oop was a fun way to get the half going.
That was until the three was falling early for Boeheim’s Army, allowing them to take a 45-41 lead before La Familia was forced to call a timeout after a 9-2 start.
The tides did not turn following the timeout, Boeheim’s Army continued to dominate the quarter as they capitalized on the poor shooting start by La Familia (1/7 FG).
A James Mainor-Bell three changed that, and the momentum started to shift back to La Familia’s side. Historical Memorial Coliseum went nuts as La Familia ended the quarter on a 6-2 run.
The run wasn’t enough to bring them back though, as Boeheim’s Army had a 52-48 lead going into the final quarter of play after outscoring La Familia 16-9 in the third quarter.
Boeheim’s Army was able to regain the momentum, starting on a 5-0 run. That was until La Familia put together a 4-0 run themselves as they tried to fight their way back into the game.
Heading into the Elam Ender, we had a tight 10-9 battle in the fourth quarter, making it 61-58 — Boeheim’s Army leads.
The target score was then set at 69!
A James Mainor-Bell three flipped the momentum once again and La Familia capitalized on it.
From that moment on it was Archie Goodwin time. An Archie jumper gave La Familia the lead, leading to a individual 6-0 run. La Familia had a win in sight, until Ty Nichols made things interesting with a three to make it 66-67, with Boeheim’s Army leading.
A couple moments later… Khalil Whitney CALLS GAME!
Archie Goodwin took over once again, finishing with 30 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals.
La Familia will advance to the Alumni Finals on Wednesday, July 29th, at 7:00 PM ET to play the winner of the Kansas Alumni vs Wichita State Alumni at Historical Memorial Coliseum.
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