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B.A. boys win hoops tourney in Tenn.

Tournament MVP Martavious Irving led the nationally ranked Boyd Anderson boys basketball team to the Arby's Classic title in Tennessee.

flyon@MiamiHerald.com

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Led by Tournament MVP Martavious Irving, the Boyd Anderson boys' basketball team extended their torrid start with a 70-61 victory over Stone Mountain (Ga.) Miller Grove in the Arby's Classic Championship in Bristol, Tenn. on Wednesday night.

It marked one of the rare times an opponent has been able to keep things interesting with the Cobras (12-0) this season. Boyd Anderson, which debuted at No. 43 in the ESPN RISE FAB 50 rankings this week, has enjoyed a 26-point average margin of victory, the closest a 59-54 victory over reigning 5A state champion Dillard two weeks ago.

The Cobras allowed Georgia Tech committment Mdon Udofia (No. 6 point guard by Rivals.com in the 2009 class) to pour in a game-high 30 points but held the Wolverines to 38 percent (24 of 62) from the field and finished with a 34-25 rebounding advantage.

`It was mostly a challenge,` Irving said. `If you are a basketball player and competitive it doesn't matter who you are playing against. You go out on the floor and have something to prove. We just wanted to show that we can play on the same level with these guys no matter what.`

Irving had a team-high 15 points and seven rebounds while 6-8 center Travis Elliott continued his strong inside play with 15 points and nine rebounds. Cedric Flood had 14 points and Bryan Bynes added 11 points with both joining Irving on the All-Tournament team. Tyrone Davis had four points, five assists and four steals.

Bynes said not having one dominant scorer for opponents to key on, has worked to their advantage.

`Teams have to prepare for more than just one player to shut down,` Bynes said. `If one player doesn't shoot good, we can get somebody else to score. That makes us difficult to guard. That is good for us and bad for them.`

Reserve guard Marvin Metellus (9 points) and Bynes hit three-pointers late in the second quarter to give Boyd Anderson a 39-35 halftime lead it never relinquished. Udofia cut an 8-point lead with 2:46 left to 3 on a three-point play but the Cobras hit seven of 10 free throws down the stretch to secure the victory.

The Cobras' impressive tournament run, which included a 54-34 semifinal victory over defending Classic Champion Briarcrest Christian (Tn.) and its two big stars, North Carolina-bound guard Leslie McDonald and George Mason 6-7 signee Johnny Williams, should help them move up in the ESPN poll and possibly even crack the USA Today Super 25 for the first time this season.

`We opened up a lot of eyes at the Tournament,` Bynes said. `I think we should be nationally ranked. There were a lot of quality players going to Division I schools. We played against the best. We showed that we should be among the best in the country.`

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