Paradise Island, Bahamas — The blue waters of the Atlantic is the dominant color here in the Bahamas, but over the past three days, Syracuse turned Atlantis orange.
Syracuse, unranked and unloved coming into this week, captured the Battle 4 Atlantis championship with a 74-67 win over No. 25 Texas A&M on Friday. It was Syracuse's second win in as many days over a ranked opponent. The Orange beat No. 18 Connecticut in Thursday's semifinals.
While Syracuse won three games in three days on the court, Syracuse fans numbering well over 1,000 turned the Imperial Arena at the Atlantis Resort into a mini-Carrier Dome.
After the game, as the Syracuse players celebrated on the court, SU coach Jim Boeheim stepped out and waved to the crowd, which responded with a chorus of "Let's Go Orange!'' cheers.
In Friday's title game, Syracuse went on an 11-2 run late in the second half to turn a 61-all tie into a 72-63 lead over the Aggies. Syracuse improved to 6-0 with the win.
Michael Gbinije scored 20 points to lead the Orange. The senior guard was named the tournament's MVP. Trevor Cooney scored 15 points, while Malachi Richardson also scored 16. Tyler Lydon put up 13 for Syracuse.
One day after Texas A&M held off No. 10 Gonzaga by one point and Syracuse upset UConn in a 3-point game, Syracuse and Texas A&M staged yet another close battle on Friday. Jalen Jones came off Texas A&M's to power the Aggies' offense in the first half. The former SMU transfer scored 16 points in the opening half, hitting seven out of nine shots from the field. He did most of his damage in the paint and along the baseline, but he also hit the only 3-pointer that he attempted.
Jones, a versatile 6-7 forward, was just one example of A&M's size playing a big factor in the game. The Aggies out-scored Syracuse 20 to 10 in the paint in the first half.
Battle 4 Atlantis all-tourney team
Two Syracuse players made the Battle 4 Atlantis all-tournament team.
Trevor Cooney made the five-player team, while Michael Gbinije made the team and was also named the tournament's MVP.
The rest of the team included Texas A&M's Danuel House and Jalen Jones. The last member of the all-tourney team was Gonzaga's Kyle Wiltjer.
Syracuse wins at the 3-point line
As it had in the first two games of the tournament, Syracuse shot the ball extremely well from 3-point range.
Syracuse went 11-for-25 (44 percent) from the 3-point line. Tyler Lydon made all three of his attempts, while Michael Gbinije made four out of six. For the third straight game, Syracuse had four players make at least two 3-pointers each as Trevor Cooney and Malachi Richardson were both 2-of-8.
Texas A&M went 6-for-20 (30 percent) from outside the arc.
Richardson with big second half
Malachi Richardson had just three points on 1-for-5 shooting in the first half, but the Syracuse freshman came up big in the second half.
Richardson scored 13 points after halftime. He started quickly, hitting a 3-pointer on SU's first possession. After that, Richardson showed that he's more than a spot-up perimeter shooter. The 6-foot-7 forward began slashing into the paint from his wing position. His driving layup plus the free throw tied the game at 55-all with 8:28.