La Familia survives late rally, beats The Ville 72-68 in Game 1 of TBT series

LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX18) — The Kentucky-Louisville rivalry never fails to deliver, even on a Saturday afternoon in July.

La Familia held off a late charge from The Ville to earn a 72-68 victory in Game 1 of The Basketball Tournament's best-of-three series at Historic Memorial Coliseum. Darryl Morsell's game-winning dunk in the Elam Ending sealed the win, giving the Kentucky alumni a 1-0 series lead before the matchup shifts to Louisville on Monday.

The first meeting between the alumni teams since La Familia's 70-61 victory in the 2024 TBT quarterfinals featured many familiar faces. Willie Cauley-Stein, playing in his final run with La Familia, was joined by Andrew Harrison, DeAndre Liggins, and Kahlil Whitney. Archie Goodwin was on the roster but unavailable for game one. The Ville countered with former Louisville standouts Montrezl Harrell, Chris Jones, David Johnson and Russ Smith, who also serves as the team's general manager.

Willie Cauley-Stein wasted little time igniting the crowd, throwing down an alley-oop from Andrew Harrison on La Familia's opening possession to score the first points of TBT 2026.

The Ville answered quickly and took a 21-17 lead after the first quarter behind a hot start from Chris Jones. The former Cardinal scored nine points on 3-of-3 shooting from the field and 4-of-5 at the free-throw line, while Harrison paced La Familia with five first-quarter points.

La Familia responded with a second-quarter run sparked by its non-alumni additions. Sean McNeil opened the run with a tough finish to cut the deficit to two before Darryl Morsell tied the game on a drive to the basket. Soon after, McNeil drilled a 3-pointer that gave La Familia a 26-21 lead with less than seven minutes remaining in the half.

Harrison took over in the closing minute before halftime, knocking down a triple before driving through contact for an and-one on the next possession, helping La Familia secure a 41-33 halftime lead. Harrison led the Wildcats with 12 first-half points, while McNeil added eight. Jones paced The Ville with 12.

La Familia stayed in front throughout the third quarter and carried a 60-50 lead into the fourth. The biggest third quarter highlight came with less than four minutes remaining in the period when DeAndre Liggins delivered a behind-the-back pass from the paint to Kahlil Whitney, who buried the 3-pointer. Harrison and McNeil each had 12 points through three quarters.

The game took another turn early in the fourth when Cauley-Stein exited with an injury, leaving La Familia without its interior presence. The Ville capitalized, using a 7-2 run led by Montrezl Harrell to trim the deficit before the game reached the Elam Ending. With La Familia leading 63-59 at the four-minute mark, the target score was set at 71.

La Familia appeared poised to close it out after James Mainor-Bell scored to make it 70-65, but The Ville answered to pull within 70-68. With the next basket set to decide the game, both teams came up empty on multiple possessions as La Familia missed several chances at the rim and Harrell narrowly missed a potential game-winning 3-pointer.

Out of a timeout, La Familia finally found the winning play. Kahlil Whitney found Morsell cutting to the basket on a baseline inbound pass, and Morsell finished the dunk to reach the target score and secure a 72-68 victory.

Morsell finished with a game-high 17 points, while Harrison added 14. La Familia will take a 1-0 series lead into Game 2 on Monday night at Freedom Hall, needing one more win to advance in The Basketball Tournament.

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