Tennessee men impressive in winning Baha Mar championship

By The Associated Press

NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) — Chaz Lanier made seven 3-pointers and scored 25 points — all in the first half — as No. 11 Tennessee cruised past No. 13 Baylor 77-62 on Friday night to win the Baha Mar Championship title.

Lanier took the drama out of the game early, making five 3-pointers in the first four minutes to carry the Volunteers (6-0) to a 16-2 lead. His final 3 just before the halftime buzzer gave Tennessee a 47-20 advantage.

Lanier finished 9-of-16 from the field and 7-of-10 from 3-point range and was named the tournament’s MVP. Jordan Gainey added 16 points to Tennessee.

Coming off a double-overtime victory over No. 22 St. John’s on Jeremy Roach’s buzzer-beater a night earlier, Baylor (4-2) outscored Tennessee 42-30 in the second half to make it respectable.

Norchad Omier finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds and VJ Edgecombe scored 20 points for the Bears. Roach was held to eight points.

Tennessee 64, Virginia 42

NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) — Chaz Lanier scored 26 points and Igor Milicic Jr. had 14 points and eight rebounds against his former team as No. 11 Tennessee pulled away from Virginia in the second half for a 64-42 win at the Baha Mar Championship.

The Volunteers found themselves locked in a tight contest going to the locker room, their lead trimmed to 22-21 when Virginia’s Andrew Rohde hit a long, straightaway three in the final seconds of the half.

Dai Dai Ames led the Cavaliers with 12 points. Tennessee held leading scorer Isaac McKneely to four points on 1-for-6 shooting.