Tempers flared Monday night following a physical Bluegrass State battle in The Basketball Tournament as a team comprised mostly of former Kentucky players downed a team consisting mostly of former Louisville players 70-61 in overtime.
Security personnel had to intervene in what devolved into a scrum of shoving and yelling between some of the players following a high-stakes showdown witnessed by a TBT-record crowd of 13,506 at Freedom Hall in Louisville.
The UK-oriented team called “La Familia” reached the event’s semifinals with its win over “The Ville,” drawing within two victories of the $1 million winner-take-all grand prize that is split between members of the winning team.
With the heated nature of the Kentucky-Louisville rivalry as a backdrop inside of a storied venue — Louisville played its home games at Freedom Hall until 2010 — tensions were high. Well-known former Wildcats such as Eric Bledsoe and Willie Cauley-Stein represented La Familia while ex-Louisville stars such as Montrezl Harrell and Russ Smith represented The Ville.
In a harbinger of things to come, Andrew Harrison of La Familia and Chris Jones of The Ville received double technicals early in the game. La Familia led 30-27 at halftime before extending its lead to 20 in the third quarter before The Ville closed the gap to six late. Ultimately, Harrison hit the game-winner for La Familia in the “Elam Ending” format.
Shortly after, routine postgame interactions between the teams turned hostile with Chinanu Onuaku of The Ville appearing to land at the center of the fracas.
Nate Sestina of La Familia said there had been “great chatter” throughout the game but “nothing crazy, nothing personal.” However, according to Sestina, Onuaku took offense when members of La Familia did the “L down” gesture.
“He spit in my face,” Sestina said. “I’m going to leave it at that. Nothing crazy. He spit at me. That’s on him.”
With the victory, La Familia advanced to Friday’s semifinals vs. Carmen’s Crew, a team of mostly former Ohio State players.
