With two action packed nights of College Basketball action, the Prudential Center was rocking thanks to the Roman Legend Classic Tournament. Seeing fans from Virginia, Georgia, Providence and Northwestern in the stands to show their support and love for the teams they were able to see some tremendous action as the four teams squared off to see who the best would be.
The night started off with Virginia filling out the first part of the Championship Bracket by edging out Georgia by a score of 65-55. Both teams had a great paced game and traded buckets throughout.
Georgia was able to get on the board first with a jumper in the paint by Braelen Bridges. Armaan Franklin tied things up at six for Virginia with a great inside post move.
Around the 14:08 mark Reece Beekman was able to convert on a steal, driving to the net and scoring that made the game 11-6 in favor of Virginia. Things were fast paced between these two historic clubs as they were able to move up and down the court at a great pace.
Georgia was able to cut into the Virginia lead thanks to a three-point shot by Jailyn Ingram, which made the tally 15-11. Ingram again showed off some sweet shooting with a three at the 11:45 mark. Virginia was able to go into the half with a 17-14 lead thanks to a layup by Reece Beekman.
The tempo and hot shooting continued for both teams, while Virginia was able to convert on some great plays, they were never able to fully pull into a comfortable score as Georgia kept battling back and showing some grit and heart throughout.
1495 Sports is proud to bring the following Press Conference from after both nights of action. Featured in the video are thoughts from Georgia Head Coach Tom Crean, University of Virginia star Armaan Franklin and Jayden Gardner, University of Virginia Head Coach Tony Bennett and Providence Head Coach Ed Cooley:
Franklin had a sweet floating jumper around the 18:15 on the scoreboard that made the score 37-34 in favor of Virginia. One of the keys for the Cavaliers is the fact that their defense stepped up as Francisco Caffaro had some thunderous blocks.
Caffaro also impressed on offense as well as at the 14:26 mark he had a sweet inside post move that was an And One play that made the score 42—38. Georgia kept battling and tied up the game at 11:22 with a dunk by Tyron McMillian.
The Cavaliers would not be denied as Jayden Gardner had a jumper at the 9:04 mark, it was all free throws from there and eventually Virginia was able to seal up the victory.
Franklin was one of the leaders on the floor offensively as he was able to tie his career high 23 points. Kihei Clark and Jayden Gardner had 12 and 11 points respectively to help round out the scoring. For Georgia Braelen Bridges had 14 points, while Jailyn Ingram had his 11th career double-double with 10 points and 12 boards.
Be sure to check out SPPHOTOGRAPHYNYC for photos from Night One of the Roman Legend Classic by clicking here:
https://www.spphotographynyc.com/p844882751
In the second half of the night, it was Providence that was able to edge out Northwestern, in a game that had fans biting their nails and, on their seats, throughout. At first Providence was able to dominate-show off some impressive quick paced passing. Eventually though Northwestern was able to get into the game especially in the second half thanks to some tremendous defense.
For Providence the game was a historic one in that the team was able to earn their 1,500 all-time victory in program history. Leading the way was Nate Watson, who had a team-high 16 points along with Jared Bynum who had 15 points, five rebounds and four assists.
The Friars had themselves a balanced night scoring as they had five players in double figure, finishing 25-53 from the field. Watson was one of the more impressive players from night one, as he was able to show emotion, great drive to the hoop in addition to some tremendous shooting from the floor.
That had set up the Second Night of the Roman Legend Classic that had Northwestern taking on Georgia and Virginia taking on Providence. Northwestern defeated Georgia in the first game of the second night by the score of 78-62.
The Wildcats were able to jump out to a 43-23 lead after the first half. Ryan Greer had a half-court buzzer-beater that was able to cap a 18-5 run. One of the leaders for Northwestern in the second game was Boo Buie who had 22 points. As for Georgia Braelen Bridges and Kario Oquendo both had 12 points each, in addition to contributions from Aaron Cook and Jailyn Ingram who had 10 points.
Fans were able to see a wonderful Championship Game between Virginia and Providence, as the Cavaliers became Roman Legends Classic Champions with a 58-40 victory. The Cavaliers were led by Jayden Gardner and Armaan Franklin who combined for 35 points.
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