(San Antonio,Texas) The Villanova Wildcats beat the Michigan Wolverines 79-62 Powered by the 31 point performance of sophomore Donte DiVincenzo who by the way came off the bench. The young guard’s points were the most ever scored by a reserve in the NCAA National Championship game.
#NationalChamps / #LetsMarchNova pic.twitter.com/b5t6X85zIa
— Villanova MBB (@NovaMBB) April 3, 2018
DiVincenzo (a 6’5″ guard from Wilmington, Delaware) shot 10 of 15 from the floor and was on fire from beyond the three point line knocking down 5 of his 7 three point attempts. Number 10 was significant making his presence on the floor known once he entered the game in the first half scoring 18 of the Wildcats 37 points before intermission. Donte’s performance also earned him the Final Four MVP honors.
Donte DiVincenzo first half numbers ?#NationalChampionship / #LetsMarchNova pic.twitter.com/1EPRhaeFxk
— Villanova MBB (@NovaMBB) April 3, 2018
Meanwhile DiVincenzo was not the only Wildcat making things happen for the school thats sits just outside of Philadelphia, Pa. Mikal Bridges (a 6’7″ Junior Guard from Malverene,Pa.) was also making magic as the only other Wildcat to score in double figures with his 19 points; Bridges also pulled down 4 rebounds and dished an assist. The big man for “Nova” 6’9″ Freshman OMari Spellman along with 6’6″ Junior Forward Eric Paschall controlled the boards hauling in 11 and 8 rebounds respectively giving head coach Jay Wright’s cats control of the boards as a team out rebounding the Wolverines 38 to 26.
Moe is at again!
He’s got 9 PTS early for @umichbball. #GoBlue pic.twitter.com/MLeX0ngXcw
— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) April 3, 2018
Speaking of Michigan, The Wolverines were lead by Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman (a 6’4″ Senior Guard from Allentown,Pa) with his 23 points and Moritz “Moe” Wagner who scored 16. “Big Blue” came out of the gate trying to prove to the Wildcats they deserved to be in the title game and they were on a mission. Michigan’s big man the 6’11” Wagner a Junior Forward from Berlin,Germany started the game scoring nine points and taking charge . Michigan with Wagner and Abdur-Rahkman’s help jumped out to a 11-6 lead with 15:09 left in the first half and they did not relinquish the lead until there was 6:07 remaining in the first stanza.
The Wolverines can thank DiVincenzo for losing control of the game,because at that point of the game ,Donte knocked down a three point shot that put the cats in the lead and they never looked back. In the second half the Wildcats contiunued to gain momentum and strecthed their nine point half time lead to 14 and the rest is history. The title is the second in three years for Villanova and the Wildcats won in dominating fashion beating every opponent in the tournament by double digits.
San Antonio here is your shining moment.
Thank you for an amazing weekend! #FinalFour pic.twitter.com/ubKqZT423m
— NCAA Final Four (@FinalFour) April 3, 2018
Trevin A Jones
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