Bears rally big for victory over No. 10 Louisville in B4A Championship

PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas — For the third game in a row the Baylor Bears (6-0) fell behind big early in the first half. For the third game in a row the Bears figured out how to leave their matchup in the Battle 4 Atlantis with a 66-63 victory, this time over No. 10-ranked Louisville (5-1) in the championship game.

The victory over a ranked team was Baylor’s third win over a top 25 team of the season.

Louisville opened up a 20-point first half lead and eventually entered break leading by 15.  But when guard King McClure decided it was his time to step up, the rest of the Bears hopped on his back and cruised to victory.

The sophomore scored all 15 of his points in the second half, including back-to-back three-point baskets to start Baylor’s rally and making three of four free throws to finish of the Cardinals. McClure hit Baylor’s only two three pointers of the game.

After only scoring 24 points in the first half during an abysmal shooting performance from the field, Scott Drew’s club flipped the script in the second half by scoring 42 points and finished the game by hitting on 53.1 percent of their shots.

Forward Johnathan Motley, 15 points, and forward Terry Maston, 12 points, were the other Bears to reach double figures. Center Jo Lual-Acuil chipped in 7 points, 6 blocks and 3 rebounds.

Baylor returns to Waco on Nov. 30 to face Sam Houston State University at 8 p.m. CT at the Ferrell Center.

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Top Performers

Points
Baylor: Two tied at 15
MSU: Donovan Mitchell (17)

Rebounds
Baylor: Ish Wainright (8)
MSU: Donovan Mitchell (8)

Assists
Baylor: Two tied at 5
MSU: Donovan Mitchell (4)

Blocks
Baylor: Jo Lual-Acuil (6)
MSU:  Three tied at 1