Nov. 28 (UPI) — Junior guard Mark Sears made seven 3-pointers en route to a 24-point performance to lead Alabama to an upset win over No. 1 North Carolina in quadruple overtime in the third-place game at the 2022 Phil Knight Invitational.
The No. 18 Crimson Tide (6-1) totaled 16 3-pointers in the 103-101 victory Sunday at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Ore.
“That was a fun one,” Crimson Tide coach Nate Oats told reporters. “I don’t know if I have been involved in a four-overtime game before. I was losing track of how many overtimes we were in at the end but a lot of credit to our guys, we showed a lot of character there and we could have folded.
“To come back from being down six in the third overtime, we were tired and both teams like to get up-and-down, and it turned into a half-court game for a majority of the end of the game. I thought guys made some timely plays.”
Sophomore center Charles Bediako totaled 14 points and 16 rebounds in the win. Senior guard Jahvon Quinerly chipped in 21 points, eight rebounds and six assists off the Crimson Tide bench.
Junior guard Caleb Love scored a game-high 34 points and totaled nine rebounds for the Tar Heels. Senior forward Armando Bacot logged 20 points and 10 rebounds in the loss. Junior guard R.J. Davis totaled 19 points and nine rebounds for the Tar Heels.
Sears scored 14 points over the first 20 minutes to help the Crimson Tide carry a 37-34 lead into the second half. Love totaled 16 points over the final 20 minutes of regulation to help the Tar Heels earn an 8-point lead in the second half. The Tide then rallied with a late 6-2 run over the final 3:18 of the second half to force overtime.
Quinerly gave the Tide an 81-79 lead with 3:02 left in the first overtime period, but Love answered with another jump shot about 1:17 later for the final points of the frame, resulting in double overtime.
Jaden Bradley gave the Tide an 89-85 lead 2:39 into double overtime. Puff Johnson and Love then made shots on consecutive possessions to tie the score and force triple overtime.
Love, Davis and Pete Nance started that period with three-consecutive scores for a 95-89 Tar Heels lead. Brandon Miller made a 3-pointer with 2:35 left in the frame to cut the deficit to two points. Quinerly made two free throws with 28 seconds left in the frame to force the final overtime.
Bradley made a layup 1:17 into the fourth overtime. Love answered with two made free throws to tie the score at 98-98. Bediako pushed the Tide ahead with a layup about a minute later, but Leaky Blank sank a 3-pointer 10 seconds later for a one-point Tar Heels edge.
Bediako responded with the go-ahead layup with 26 seconds remaining. Bradley added a free throw with four seconds remaining for the final point of the night.
The Tar Heels will battle No. 11 Indiana at 9:15 p.m. EST Wednesday in Bloomington, Ind. The Tide will host South Dakota State at 8:30 p.m. Saturday in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
