City of Basketball Love

CoBL Staff (@hooplove215)
--

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):

FINAL: (1) City of Gods 94, (8) Talladega Knights 85
FINAL: (4) Team Maryland 94, (5) FOE 102
FINAL/OT: (3) The Untouchables 90, (11) PA RoadWarriors 88
2nd Half--4:27: (2) Boeheim's Army 74, (7) North Broad St. Bullies 72

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

~~~

11:38 AM
After seeing their lead grow to as much as 17 early on in the first half, a cold shooting streak had the Baltimore-based City of Gods take a ten point lead, 42-32, into halftime over Talladega Knights. The Knights' rough early portion of the first half can be attributed to the 17 turnovers they committed throughout the half. A first half standout for City of Gods was Omar Strong, who went into the break with 13 while Josh Boone was a force inside for Talladega Knights, scoring ten points.

~~~

12:20 PM
Although City of Gods saw their ten point halftime lead slim down to as little as one midway through the second half, the top seed in the Northeast Region pulled away and eventually won by a score of 94-85 over Talladega Knights. 

The Knights continued to battle down the stretch despite trailing by as many as seventeen during the second half, but didn't have enough in the tank to cut the lead to any fewer than two. With about four minutes to go, City of Gods' advantage was just 64-62. 

"In the first half, we were moving the ball around, and we got a big lead," said Pops Mensah-Bonsu, the London native who spent two years in the NBA. "Then we kind of got lax and complacent and then they came back and forced us to grind it out."

Led once again by Dermarr Johnson with 27 points, City of Gods' lack of depth--just seven players saw the floor for the top seed--was made up for by its impressive talent across the board. 

As for the Talladega Knights, Manny Quezada was the top scorer for the second day in a row, matching Johnson's 27. Josh Boone, a TBT runner-up in 2014, added a double-double with 20 points and 10 boards. 

"Each year, The Tournament is getting better and better," said City of Gods coach Joe Connelly. "They had quality players. Gary Forbes, an ex-NBA player, Josh Boone, that point guard (Quezada) was great. I was a huge fan of the way he played."

With their second win in as many days, City of Gods will take on the winner of Team F.O.E and Team Maryland on Thursday at Philly U in the Super 16.

~~~

12:33 PM
Up next, coaches Marcus and Markieff Morris lead fifth-seeded Team F.O.E. against the 4-seed, Team Maryland. Maalik Wayns, a Villanova alum, will look to build off of his explosive second half in Team F.O.E.'s first round win over Liberty Ballers, while Team Maryland brings its stacked roster featuring the likes of Dewayne Jackson and Danny Ageless to the floor, fresh off of a dominant victory against Big Apple Basketball.  

~~~

1:16 PM
As waste be expected, the first half of this one was hotly contested, with both teams going punch for punch throughout. Team F.O.E., however, started to heat up and take advantage of some Team Maryland errors around the six-minute mark, allowing them to open up the game's biggest lead, 42-30, with 5:08 to go. 

The guys from just below the Mason-Dixon line had an answer, slashing the deficit to as few as six behind hot shooting from Jackson Mike James (17 points), but F.O.E.'s run, as well as an 8-0 spurt in the final two minutes, currently stands as the major difference-maker on the scoreboard, as they enter the break up 56-44. 

At the break, F.O.E. is led by Sean Evans with 13 points and Wayns with 12. 

~~~

2:00 PM
Team Maryland fought its way all the way back from down fifteen to take a 75-73 lead with about nine minutes left! F.O.E. has rebuilt its lead to five with 6:10 to play, but this one has certainly turned into a thriller. We'll be back soon with the final score! 

~~~

2:30 PM
Team Maryland was able to take the lead twice, but ultimately their heroic comeback fell short as Team FOE scored six quick points to take a 95-87 lead with 1:30 to go, ultimately catapulting them to a 102-94 victory.

"We're all pros out there so we know how to lock in, buckle down and stay together," said Team FOE star Sean Evans. "We did a good job of staying together and not letting them get away from us too much and fighting back and getting a victory at the end of the game."

The fourth-seeded Team Maryland didn't go out with out a fight, of course. A tough three-point play in transition by James cut the lead to five, but a string of stops and made free throws by F.O.E. ultimately put the nails in the coffin, handing Team Maryland an earlier exit than many may have expected.

"FOE got out early. They played really well," said Team Maryland coach Juan Dixon. "Those guys were just really attacking the lane. I think they had 38 points in the paint so come the second half I think we tried to mess up their rhythm a little bit. We went zone for the majority of the second half and it worked out for us and got us back in the game."

James finished the day with a game-high 35 points on 6-for-11 three-point shooting, while the victors--who had seven different players in double figures--were led by the 16 point, 10 rebound double-double of Sean Evans. 

F.O.E.'s time in TBT 2016 will extend at least to next weekend, when they will be joined by Brandon Davies, who is currently competing in the NBA Summer League, and they will take on top-seeded City of Gods in the Super 16, back here at Philadelphia University. 

"They're a talented team, a deep team," said Evans. "They're a bigger team than us so I think we'll have to use some of our advantages to overcome their size but I think we'll be fine." 

~~~

2:39 PM
Fresh off a convincing win over Sideline Cancer, the third-seeded Pittsburgh Alumni team, The Untouchables, are set to do battle with the 11-seed, PA RoadWarriors, who escaped the under-manned Villanova alumni team, SuperNOVA, Saturday evening. 

~~~

3:15 PM
Scoring has been limited in the first half, with neither team getting into much of an extended rhythm; because of that, it's been tight throughout, with the Untouchables entering the half up 38-28 over the upset-minded Roadwarriors. 

A late 9-0 run helped the Untouchables build their halftime advantage, who closed the half on a 17-7 tear after Roadwarriors tied the game at 21. 

Leading the way for the Untouchables, who have had a very balanced scoring effort, is Ricky Harris with ten points, while Cameron Clark has six points and six rebounds. Chris Hass currently leads the way for PA Roadwarriors with nine.

~~~

4:00 PM
The PA RoadWarriors have clawed back to within five, after having been down by as many as 17 points! Stay tuned for what should be a big finish!!

~~~

4:13 PM
Overtime! PA Roadwarriors, who used hot shooting to claw all the way back from 17 down, took the lead on a clutch three by Cameron Ayers, before Brad Wanamaker forced the extra period with an acrobatic baseline drive. Four extra minutes to decide whose journey to $2 Million continues!

~~~

4:30 PM
PA Roadwarriors couldn’t fulfill their comeback for an extra four minutes, and the Pitt alumni were able to escape with the victory in thrilling fashion, by a final score of 90-88, as a tough three-pointer by Wanamaker built a four-point advantage with 38 seconds to go that would stand until the final buzzer. 

“We’ve been in this situation before," said Lavance Fields after the wim. "We all played together at Pitt. We've been down in the last few seconds of the game. We know how to come together and stay poised and get the ball to whoever needs the ball to finish the game”

Wanamaker ended up with a team-leading 23 points and 11 rebounds, while the Roadwarriors were paced by Ayers with a game-high 28. 

The Bucknell alums continued to make clutch shots down the stretch, but couldn’t overcome their overtime deficit. With possession down by two with under three seconds to play, they were unable to get a shot off as the clock expired.

~~~

4:37 PM
In our final game of the day, the second-seed Boeheim's Army, comprised of Syracuse alumni, takes on Temple's alumni team, 7-seed North Broad Street Bullies. Last night, both teams won by convincing margins, as the 'Cuse alums, who feature local names like Hakim Warrick and Rick Jackson, took down Basketball City 87-59. The Bullies, who include the likes of Khalif Wyatt and Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson took down their crosstown foes, 20th & Olney (La Salle alumni), 90-76, in Saturday's night cap. 

~~~

5:15 PM
The Syracuse alums, who have yet to trail--and have also yet to lead by more than ten--opened on a 10-2 run, and have led by anywhere between three and eleven for the remainder of the half. A late run in the final minute has Boeheim's Army leading at the break, 39-32.

The Bullies have struggled to knock down their wealth of three-point attempts, but an impressive job on the offensive glass has made up for that issue. Scottie Randall currently leads the way with 11 for North Broad. 

Hakim Warrick, a Philadelphia native, has been a problem to defend thus far, scoring at will in every possible way on his way to ten points. Eric Devendorf leads the Orange alumni with 13. 

~~~

6:18 PM
Boeheim's Army hangs on in a thriller to win the weekend's final game, 86-82 over North Broad Street Bullies. Khalif Wyatt had a chance to a tie with the clock winding down, but missed off the front rim, and two Eric Devendorf free throws sealed the deal for the Syracuse alumni. 

Temple's alumni trailed for all but one minute of the game, but never by more than eleven points. They cut the lead to one in the final two minutes, but couldn't get the extra bucket they needed to overtake Boeheim's Army. 

The win for Boeheim's Army sets up a highly-anticipated matchup of Syracuse and Pittsburgh alumni in the Super 16 next weekend.