City of Basketball Love

CoBL Staff (@hooplove215)
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The Basketball Tournament is back! The $2 million, winner-take-all tournament full of former college stars and current international pros has already seen half of its bracket reduced from 16-team regions down to four each, and this weekend the Northeast and Midwest brackets will do the same.

Philadelphia University plays host to the Northeast region for the third straight year,

Here's the schedule for the opening round of the Northeast region (for our full region breakdown, click here):

9am: City of Gods vs. DuBois Dream
1045 am: Talledega Knights vs. Team Fancy
12:30 PM: Team Maryland vs. Big Apple Basketball
2:15 PM: FOE vs. Liberty Ballers
4:00 PM: The Untouchables vs. Sideline Cancer
5:45 PM: SuperNOVA vs. PA RoadWarriors
7:30 PM: Boeheim’s Army vs. Basketball City
9:15 PM: North Broad vs. 20th and Olney

We'll be live-blogging all day long with results, highlights, photos and quotes; keep checking back throughout the day!

9:00 AM
The day's action has begun at Phila U! Top-seeded City of Gods, a team comprised of mostly D.C. and Maryland natives, takes on DuBois Dream, the Northeast's 16-seed whose members hail predominantly from central Pennsylvania. City of Gods, led by ex-NBA players like James White and Pops Mensah-Bonsu will be looking to defend its Northeast Regional title of a year ago. We'll check back in with another update at halftime!

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9:40 AM
After a surprisingly back-and-forth first half, City of Gods enters the half with a 48-45 lead over DuBois Dream, behind 13 points from Dermarr Johnson. DuBois lead by seven around the 11:00 mark, but City of Gods quickly erased that deficit and the line stayed within five points for the remainder of the first half. 

Nick Novak, who heated up late, currently has seven points for DuBois Dream, while Henry Pwono leads all scorers with 17 as well as seven boards. Pwono's consistent inside presence helped build a 43-39 lead with about two minutes to go, but City of Gods closed on a 10-2, capped by a buzzer-beater step-back three by Phil Goss to enter the break on top. 

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10:16 AM
Multiple runs by City of Gods early in the second half made it appear the top-seed was prepared to pull away, but DuBois Dream hung around for much longer than many would have expected. City of Gods' lead did reach as many as 19, DuBois was able to claw back to within 12 with under four minutes to play.

“When you don't know these teams, you can't prepare for them," Johnson said after the game. "We didn't know any of those guys, we didn't know what they were going to do. So we had to get used to them in the first half, but in the second half we kind of figured them out.”

Nonetheless, the defending regional champs were able to start their campaign with a victory, knocking off their upset-minded opponents by a final of 99-85.

Johnson stayed hot in the second half, finishing with a game-high 29 points, while Chris Wright added 24. Leading the way in defeat for DuBois Dream was Pwono with 23 points and 12 rebounds.

Despite the loss, it's been a long, exciting journey to TBT for an under-estimated small-town team that plans to be back next summer.  

“A lot of people didn't understand the tournament at first. So it took a little bit of one on one contact with some people, talking with them," said DuBois Player/GM Albert Varacallo. "Our newspaper, everyone in the community ended up getting behind us and they took us into the tournament. We started out just us three seeing what we could do and seeing if we could get in here and it's been great."

As for the victors, City of Gods will advance to tomorrow's second round, where they await the winner of the Northeast Regional's next matchup, 8-seed Talladega Knights and 9-seed Team Fancy. 

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10:45 AM
In the next game up, Notre Dame alum Tyrone Nash and Connecticut alum Josh Boone will lead No. 8 seed Talladega Knights against the No. 9 seed, Team Fancy, which will play without its two big names, Russ Smith and JaVale McGee. Fancy also features Villanova alums Corey Stokes and Dominic Cheek. Check back later for a mid-game update!

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11:25 AM
In an evenly-matched game between two teams with a wealth of former Division I talent, the first half was tightly contested, with neither team leading by more than seven points.

Behind a balanced scoring attack led by Kevin Parrom with 12 points and Shane Gibson with 10 points, Team Fancy enters the half with a slim, 44-40 lead. South Florida alum Manny Quezada currently leads the Talladega Knights' charge with 13 points. 

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12:36 PM
Despite a furious comeback by Team Fancy, the Talledega Knights survived and advanced to Sunday’s Second Round, winning 108-105. Team Fancy brought it within one possession multiple times in the final two minutes, but never had the opportunity to tie the game.

The Knights' lead was as large as 92-77 during the latter portion of the second have, but sudden comeback by Team Fancy, capped by two dagger threes by Shane Gibson, including this one, brought them back to life. 

In the final seconds, with a three-point lead, Talladega Knights chose to foul with two seconds left, and it paid off, as they were able to escape with the victory and advance to the second round; they will face off against City of Gods, tomorrow at 11:00 AM.

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12:56 PM
The next game will feature one of the most talented rosters in the tournament, as 4-seed Team Maryland is led by the likes of Jeff Allen, Danny Ageless, and Dewayne Jackson. Team Maryland takes on 13-seed Big Apple Basketball, which is comprised of New York City natives like Ater Majok (UConn) and Lance Goulbourne (Virginia Tech).   

Within the first six minutes, Team Maryland has already opened up a dominant, 17-4 lead. 

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1:19 PM
Super-impressive first half for Team Maryland, who takes a 42-26 lead into the half against Big Apple Basketball. This battle of two hoops hotbeds has seen former Morgan State forward DeWayne Jackson (above, left) light up the nets for 18 points, as the 1,600-point scorer in the MEAC is doing just that at Philly U.

Team Maryland also is benefitting from a solid 12 points by Mike James, a Portland native who's currently playing with Panathinaikos Athens in the Greek Basket League. Big Apple Basketball, which features former Vanderbilt forward Rod Odom--who has seven points--and UMass' Anthony Gurley, had a tough time scoring against an aggressive, focused Team Maryland defense.

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2:00 PM
Team Maryland finished off its dominant performance from start to finish, winning by a final score of 90-77 over Big Apple Basketball. After starting with a 15-2 lead, they had already made their statement and gotten past the jitters, despite having not had much preparation for their first game.

"When we got our first couple of shots to drop, we relaxed and they did not," said Mike James of Team Maryland. "We took advantage of that."

Team Maryland also kept up its intensity on the defensive end throughout the game, allowing them to start off hot and keep a solid amount of distance between themselves and Big Apple Basketball. 

"Coming into a tournament like this, I think the team that defends the best, has some instruction, some organization, will have a good chance of winning," said Dixon. "Have we practiced much? No. These guys are pros, they just came back from overseas, are in great shape, and know how to play basketball."  

DeWayne Jackson was huge for Team Maryland in the victory, scoring in a variety of ways on his way to a team high 24 points, and providing an energetic spark from the bench once the game's result was all but sealed.

Team Maryland, with the win, advances to take on either Team FOE or Philly's own Liberty Ballers in the second round Sunday afternoon. 

And according to the confident Reggie Holmes, we have yet to see the best of what Team Maryland can do. 

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2:20 PM
Next up, the local Liberty Ballers, the 12-seed, will do battle with fifth-seeded Team FOE. Liberty Ballers features St. Joe's alum C.J. Aiken and Ryan Brooks from Temple, and are coached by Coatesville head coach Chuck Moore. FOE also features locally-grown Scott Rogers from Drexel and Maalik Wayns of Villanova. 

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3:00 PM
Following a physical and very eventful first half of basketball that included a technical foul--the first of the day--on Liberty Ballers' Michael Green, the upset-minded Ballers enter the break with a slight advantage on Team FOE, 45-43.

Although by a slim margin, Liberty Ballers have led most of the way. A couple of key mistakes in the final minute hindered them from holding a slightly larger halftime lead.

Ronald Moore, a Siena alum, has been lights out from three-point land, and has nine points. Leading the way with 16 for the Liberty Ballers is CJ Aiken, who has been making big plays on both ends. 

Team FOE, which is coached and general managed by Marcus and Markieff Morris, is currently led on the stat sheet by Sean Evans with 11 points and Tyshawn Taylor with 10. 

~~~

3:55 PM
Team F.O.E. emerged victorious in the first battle today between two Philly-based teams, taking down the Liberty Ballers by a score of 90-82. Former Villanova star Maalik Wayns (17 pts) was clutch in the second half for F.O.E., hitting a dagger 3-pointer with three minutes left to make it a 10-point game. Sean Evans (St. John's) and Tyshawn Taylor (Kansas) led F.O.E. with 22 and 20 points, respectively, while C.J. Aiken (St. Joe's) had 20 points and three blocks to pace the Liberty Ballers.

"Playing together in this and in the [Danny] Rumph [Tournament], we have a lot of chemistry together," F.O.E. guard and Drexel alum Scott Rodgers said. "We understand and know each other's game. It's not too hard to adjust to the game. We're just real comfortable with each other. We're family, we hang out with each other off the court. We play with each other all the time in the summer."

Evans and Hampton alum Vinny Simpson shut down the Liberty Ballers defensively, preventing Liberty Ballers guards Ryan Brooks (Temple), Ronald Moore (Siena) and Garrett Williamson (Saint Joseph's) from getting too many open looks.

Micheal Green (Butler) added 18 points and Brooks 14 for the Liberty Ballers.

"There were moments when it was an inner-city rivalry going on," Liberty Ballers head coach Chuck Moore said. "But for the most part I don't think we paid any attention to that...they hit some big shots down the stretch."

4:38 PM
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Roman Catholic's Brad Wanamaker (above) have helped The Untouchables out to a 35-19 lead with 5:32 left in the first half over Sideline Cancer. The No. 4 seed in the Northeast region, The Untouchables feature a core full of Pitt alums, led by Wanamaker, Gary McGhee, Levance Fields and Gil Brown, all of whom played at the school between 2005-2012; Brown, a super-athletic wing, already has two monstrous slams. Another interesting side plot in this one has Sideline Cancer's Devon Saddler going up against his former backcourt partner at Delaware, Davon Usher, who's playing with The Untouchables.

5:47 PM
The Untouchables hung on to win 106-94. Gil Brown and Levance Fields led the way in scoring for their team with 18 points each, while point guard Jermaine Dixon moved the ball well and had 10 assists. Devon Saddler and Anthony Clemmons helped ignite the second half comeback effort for Sideline Cancer, but eventually they ran out of time. Jarryd Cole of Sideline Cancer led all scorers with 23.

6:45 PM
A shorthanded SuperNOVA squad is so far handling the Bucknell-centric PA Roadwarriors, up 55-38 at halftime despite only having five players show up. Malcolm Grant, who began his career at Villanova before transferring to Miami (Fl.), has 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting, including 4-of-5 from 3-point range. Joe Willman leads the group of former Bison standouts with 10 points, while Chris Hass has nine on 3-of-4 from 3-point range.

7:45 PM
Crazy finish in the last game, as Charles Lee's layup with eight seconds left lifted the PA Roadwarriors to an 89-88 victory over SuperNOVA. Nova had to play the last 15 minutes shorthanded, as star guard Scottie Reynolds suffered a dislocated shoulder and had to sit out. With only five players in attendance, SuperNOVA had to finish out the game playing 5-on-4, allowing the Roadwarriors to come back.

Villanova's roster initially included around 10 former 'Nova ballplayers, but the roster was slowly picked apart: Isaiah Armwood got hurt, Reggie Redding was in Summer League, Maurice Sutton was in the Dominican Republic.

"Before the game, we were in there practicing and we said we might have to (play shorthanded)," Villanova alum James Minor-Bell said. "We played our best, gave it our all, we did a good job -- I still think we should have won, but it is what it is."

Chris Hass led the Roadwarriors with 20 points on 7-of-17 shooting, while Cameron Ayers had 19, Darryl Shazier 15 and Joe Willman 12 for the group of mostly Bucknell alumni.

"I think it threw us off a little bit," Ayers said about playing with a man advantage. "Defensively we had a roamer guy try to double the ball, but sometimes you didn't know if you were roaming or not...it got a little confusing at times, but luckily it worked out for us."

They'll advance to play The Untouchables in the third of four games on Sunday.

9:45 PM
Heavy favorites Boeheim's Army finished off a wire to wire victory over Basketball City 87-59. For the second straight year, the 'Cuse faithful showed up in big numbers at Philly U and made their presence felt even before tip off.

The game was close throughout the first half due in part to poor shooting and turnovers committed by the Cuse alums. However, Boeheim's Army outscored Basketball City 50-27 in the second half, on the backs of a balanced scoring effort. Eric Devendorf led all scorers with 14, but Hakim Warrick and C.J. Fair were among seven Boeheim's Army players in double figures.

Boeheim's Army now advances to play the winner of the North Broad Street Bullies and 20th and Olney tomorrow evening.