In a clash of two of the most prestigious programs in the history of college basketball saw La Familia (Kentucky) versus The Ville (Louisville) in a jammed packed incredibly loud Freedom Hall in the heart of Louisville. The University of Louisville played its home games here from 1956 to 2010 before moving into its modern arena in downtown Louisville The KFC YUM! Center. Freedom Hall set a TBT record with 13,509 people in the iconic rivalry game featuring Louisville greats like Russ Smith and Peyton Siva, two NCAA National Champions from Louisville’s 2013 title team that had the title vacated in the Rick Pitino scandal by the NCAA. With La Familia featuring the Harrison twins (Aaron and Andrew) and Willie Cauley-Stein, all three played on one of the greatest teams in college basketball history that finished 38 and 1 and lost in the Final Four in 2015.
The game started at a frantic pace for La Familia in the opening minutes jumping out to a 16 to 10 lead at the end of the first quarter but that wasn’t the only thing that happened in the opening 9 minutes of play, Andrew Harrison of La Familia and Chris Jones of The Ville entered a head butting match that lead with a double technical foul.
The second quarter was lead by The Ville 17 to 14 that saw big man Montrezl Harrell working around the basket to help cut the lead going into halftime 30 to 27. La Familia only up three was lead by Willie Cauley-Stein, 9 points on 3 of 3 from behind the arc, which seemed to be the gameplan for The Ville to allow Cauley-Stein to shoot from deep, said Russ Smith following the game.
After the break La Familia started to get hot, led by Nate Sestina who hit 5 of 7 three’s and Cauley-Stein going 3-3 from the field adding 6 points to give La Familia a 26 to 11 advantage going into the third quarter.
The fourth quarter saw a scoring drought, play was sloppy and somewhat stagnant. Heading into the Elam Ending the score was 62 to 53 with the target score being set at 70. The drought continued with teams shooting a combined 4 of 21 from the field (19%). As the points wound down everyone knew a Harrison was going for the dagger. Andrew Harrison from the right wing caught it a splashed home a three to give La Familia the win over The Ville.
This wouldn’t be the last activity of the night, Nate Sestina who lead La Familia in points with 22 on 6 of 14 shots from three, put the iconic L’s down in front of The Ville big man Chinanu Onuaku who retaliated by spitting in Sestina’s face, players began jawing and pushing and shoving ensued with La Familia big Daniel Orton coming the rescue in defense of his teammates. Once the dust settled, La Familia was gifted the plaque which sends them to the next round of TBT play in Philadelphia, PA.
The semi-final game in Philadelphia, PA will be on August the 2nd as they take on Carmen’s Crew (Ohio State) at 9 PM on FS1 to try to punch there ticket to the championship game for the grand prize of 1 million dollars.
The KY Press 