Maryland Basketball Wins Paradise Jam Championship

Mitch Stringer-USA TODAY Sports

One championship down, two more to go as Maryland basketball looks to earn their way back onto the national stage!

Maryland men’s basketball are champions once again after beating Providence (6-1) in the Paradise Jam finals. Dez Wells, who won the tournament MVP had 13 points and five rebounds to lead the Terps to the championship. An early rim-rocking dunk, and a late Greivis Vasquez-like floater helped propel and seal the win for the Terps who went 3-0 in the tournament. Evan Smotrycz was also named to the all-tournament team.

Here is how Maryland (4-2) won the 2013 Paradise Jam Championship…

Game 1

Maryland 68 – Marist 43

Top Player: J. Layman 16 Pts, 8 Reb, 1 Ast, 1 Stl, 1 Blk

Game 2

Maryland 80 – UNI 66

Top Player: E. Smotrycz 20 Pts, 9 Reb, 1 Ast, 2 Stl

Game 3

Maryland 56 – Providence 52

Top Players: E. Smotrycz 13 Pts, 11 Reb, 3 Ast & Dez Wells 13 Pts, 5 Reb, 1 Ast, 1 Stl

Here is the team celebrating their well earned victory!

What Now?

Well, the Terps can enjoy this one tonight, but they must come back down to reality tomorrow. It’s a championship, but nobody is interested in winning the Paradise Jam title.

In the championship game against Providence, Maryland showed that there is still a lot of work to be done. Providence won the second half outscoring the Terps 31-23.

Remember this, good teams find a way to win. Bad teams find a way to lose. Despite almost blowing a 16-point lead, the Terps found a way to pull out the win.

I thought Maryland played well in the first half. Shaquille Clear showed some signs of improvement early but then went back to his old self-juggling basketballs and missing lay-ups.

Overall, the team was able to come together and allow some of their bench to get more experience. The lessons learned from these games will help this group going forward as they continue their non-conference schedule on Friday night against Morgan State (1-6).