Nate Sestina sets fire to Freedom Hall as La Familia downs The Ville 70-61 in TBT Elite 8

ZGeogheganKSR

Photo of La Familia by Kentucky Sports Radio

Nate Sestina never had the chance to play in the NCAA Tournament while at Kentucky — he had a few years of pent-up energy to release in the Elite 8 of The Basketball Tournament.

On Monday night in Freedom Hall, Sestina dropped a game-high 22 points as La Familia took down The Ville 70-61 in TBT’s quarterfinals. With the win, the Kentucky alumni team advances to the semifinals set for this Friday in Philadelphia where they’ll take on Carmen’s Crew, a team of Ohio State alums.

Sestina went 6-14 from deep and also grabbed eight rebounds. He was aided by 20 points and nine rebounds from Willie Cauley-Stein while Andrew Harrison (11 points), Eric Bledsoe (nine), and Kerem Kanter (eight) also got in on the action. As a team, La Familia shot 41.9 percent from the field and made 12 three-pointers while holding The Ville to just 31 percent shooting and only four made three-pointers.

This was without a doubt the biggest game in TBT history, as evidenced by the 13,506 fans that showed up to Freedom Hall. It was easily the largest crowd in event history, surpassing the 7,202 mark set last year in Wichita. Harrison hit the Elam Ending triple to put this game to bed for good.

ANDREW HARRISON HITS THE ELAM ENDER!!!!!!

The @KentuckyMBB Alumni knock off their rival and win the biggest game in TBT HISTORY!

ON TO THE SEMIFINALS THEY GO! pic.twitter.com/FSIApeiMUO
— TBT (@thetournament) July 30, 2024

The energy to start this game was everything it had been hyped up to be. Both sides were chirping at each other from the opening tip. It didn’t take long for Andrew Harrison and Chris Jones to (almost literally) butt heads, resulting in a double-technical foul. La Familia took a strong lead early on before The Ville made its run to close the first half.

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At the intermission, La Familia led 30-27 behind nine points from Cauley-Stein (on three made 3-pointers), eight points from Bledsoe, seven from Sestina, and six from Kanter. Little did we know, this was only the beginning for Sestina.

The third quarter was nothing but money for the former Bucknell-turned-Kentucky alumni. Sestina caught fire from deep, pouring in five triples in the third frame alone while building a massive 56-38 lead for La Familia going into the fourth quarter and Elam Ending. Go Big Blue chants rained down from the mostly red crowd as we changed quarters.

The Ville had some juice left in the tank though. At one point, the Louisville alums rattled off a 12-2 run, bringing the Cardinal faithful alive. At the under-four-minute mark, La Familia took a 62-53 lead into the Elam Ending, setting the target score at 70.

Andrew Harrison got the former ‘Cats rolling to start the Elam Ending with a floater in the lane. Cauley-Stein was next with an and-one finish at the rim, converting on the freebie. It was Andrew — not Aaron — who hit the Elam Ending three-pointer to send his team to the semis.

Things got a bit ugly following the final buzzer though.