Nate Sestina and Willie Cauley-Stein were a one-two punch that Louisville couldn’t match.
They led La Familia, Kentucky’s alumni team, to a 70-62 victory over The Ville, Louisville’s alumni team, in Freedom Hall Monday night in front of a record crowd of over 13,000 for The Basketball Tournament (TBT).
La Familia’s victory clinched a spot in the TBT Final Four and got the team within two wins of the $1 million prize that goes to the winning team. La Familia will play again Friday in Philadelphia against Carmen’s Crew, an Ohio State alumni team. which beat Takeover BC 90-74, in Monday’s first quarterfinal at Freedom Hall. Friday’s semifinal between La Familia and Carmen’s Crew starts at 9 p.m. at Daskalakis Athletic Center and will again be shown on FS1.
Cayley-Stein finished with 20 points on 8-for-9 shooting and went 3-for-3 from 3-point range, something no one could have expected. He credited coach Tyler Ulis for encouraging him to shoot but also praised the assistance that former UK player/NBA star Rajon Rondo provided by joining the coaching staff for this game.
“Rondo is one of the best X-and-O guys I’ve ever been around,” Cauley-Stein said. “He’s hitting quick hitters in the timeout. He’s so witty on how to do clever things out there. So he’s just constantly bringing you over. It’s just, ‘Hey man, I see this, this and this,’ and, ‘I see this, this and that,’ and then (you) go implement what he’s talking about and normally a good thing happens.”
Sestina was unreal in the third quarter when he made five 3-pointers. He finished the game with 22 points on 8-for-17 shooting and eight rebounds.
“It’s taken me 27 years to feel this confident in myself and in my game,” Sestina said. “I speak with a mental health coach, and he and I have been working the last three years to really just kind of put misses out of my head and just keep going, going, going.
“It’s just one of those things that a lot of time and effort goes into. It’s a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff that people don’t see. But it’s a confidence thing. I’m feeling really good and trusting my stuff. And I’ve got a team that believes me as well.”
Sestina has been playing overseas since leaving UK but jumped at the chance to play in this event.
“The opportunity to play for a Kentucky team, in Kentucky, at Rupp (Arena) to start and to come here and do what we did here?” Sestina said after the game. “This is why this team was put together.”
Sestina was part of the on-court ruckus after the game ended that nearly turned into an all-out brawl after Louisville’s Chinanu Onuaku spit on Sestina after the former UK player threw an Ls down sign to the crowd to celebrate the win. (The spitting was caught on video by several media outlets.)
“Emotions ran high, that’s what this game does to people,” Sestina said. “It had been great chatter the whole game, nothing crazy, nothing personal. And then it got personal, obviously. Ls down verses Ls up, that’s what this game is. (Onuaku) was just like ‘Don’t do Ls down in here’ and I was just like ‘All right.’ Ls down always.
“And then he walked away and stepped at me or whatever, I backwards turned, and then he spit in my face. Mr. Onuaku. I’m gonna leave it at that. Nothing crazy, spit at me. That’s on him.“
La Familia vs. The Ville
Photos by Vicky Graff
2 Responses
Lousyville is nothing but a bunch of redneck losers. They will never get back to their glory days of the 70s. Should it be called a rivalry if they never win more than once in 10 games?
Maybe TheVille is practicing for championship of a spitting contest.