PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas – Iowa State (4-2) had a break-out shooting game to beat Alabama (2-4) 104-89 in the consolation semifinals of the Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis Thursday at Imperial Arena. The combined 193 points was the highest combined point total in the history of the Battle 4 Atlantis.
The Cyclones advance to tomorrow’s fifth-place game at 6 p.m. Central, where they will play the winner of the Southern Mississippi-Seton Hall game in-progress at the time of publication.
Tyrese Haliburton yet again flirted with a triple-double, leading ISU with 23 points, a career-high 11 rebounds and nine assists. Rasir Bolton had his best night as a Cyclone, finishing with 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Joining them in double figures was Prentiss Nixon (15), George Conditt IV (11) and Michael Jacobson (11).
How it Happened
It did not happen immediately for Iowa State, as the Tide were firing early, draining its first four 3-point attempts to open up a 14-4 lead in the first three minutes. The Cyclones showed they were able to compete from deep, with 3-pointers by Rasir Bolton and Michael Jacobson helping erase the Alabama lead and put ISU ahead 18-17.
Tyrese Haliburton called his own number on consecutive occasions, with back-to-back 3-pointers from ISU’s star sophomore putting the Cyclones back in front 26-25. Alabama moved ahead again at 32-31, but that would be the last of the lead they saw as Iowa State begin to unload from 3-point range, making four 3-pointers in the final 5:48 of the first half. Coming into the game ranked No. 319 in the country in 3-point shooting percentage, ISU went 9-of-17 from deep, with Bolton making 4-of-5, to build up a 51-36 lead at the half.
Alabama came out of the locker room well, cutting ISU’s advantage to single digits at 56-47 within the first three minutes of the second half. Bama then made it down to six at 61-55, but Haliburton nabbed a four-point play that started a wild 14-0 run in just 1:49, including a second four-point play (Bolton the responsible party) to make it 75-55.
With the pace of the game, no lead was safe, as the Tide were able to roll back within 13. However, the Cyclones continued to drain 3-pointers, finishing with 15 on the night as ISU was able to its advantage. George Conditt’s spin and lay-in brought up Iowa State’s century, with 2:06 to go.
Tyrese Haliburton has spent most of ISU’s six games this season on the verge of putting up a triple-double and Thursday was no different. The sophomore had his second-straight 20-point game with 23 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field, to go with a career-high 11 rebounds and nine assists.
Rasir Bolton’s shooting effort helped guide Iowa State through a chaotic first half. The Penn State transfer had his best game as a Cyclone, notching 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting which included five 3-pointers.
Iowa State will play in the Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantic fifth-place game tomorrow at 6 p.m. Central Time against the winner of the Southern Mississippi-Seton Hall game, which will take place later tonight. Friday night’s game will be on ESPNU or ESPNnews.
