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Two teams one win away from $1 million at TBT

08/01/2015, 11:00pm EDT
By Madeline Pryor

Team 23's Augustine Okosun in action during TBT's semifinals. (Photo: Madeline Pryor)

Madeline Pryor (@maddyyypryor)
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NEW YORK CITY -- The $1 million prize offered for the winning team in The Basketball Tournament seemed a long ways away in April, when the field opened up to any team in the country that wanted to enter.

But now a field that started 300-deep and became 97 at the start of bracket play is now down to just two teams with a chance at the big prize. 

Here's a recap of Saturday's semifinals:

Team 23 vs. Ants Alumni
As Team 23 left the locker room before its semifinal, head coach Ron Katich had a simple message for his group of pros.

“We know how we got here, let’s do the same thing,” he said.

Simple, but effective.

Team 23 displayed the same offensive expertise that got them to the TBT semifinals, opening up against Ants Alumni with an explosive dunk from Zach Andrews in the first possession and never looking back.

In the TBT semi-finals on Saturday afternoon at Fordham’s Rose Hill Gym, Team 23 beat out Ants Alumni 87-76.

After Andrews’ game-opening three-point play, 15 first-half points from point guard Davin White had Team 23 leading by as much as 18 points in the first half, and they would take a 39-29 lead into the break.

The second half started strong for Ants Alumni, as Team 23’s fouls (seven in the first five minutes of the half) and turnovers allowed Ants to close the deficit. After two made free throws from Valparasio alum Ron Howard with 12 minutes left, they had cut the Team 23 lead to just four points.

But a Larry Owens 3-pointer with just over eight minutes left gave Team 23 the boost they needed to finish out the game.

In the last two minutes, the Ants came within 10 points as the teams traded spots at the foul line, but Team 23 would ultimately come out, as White and Travis Gabbidon combined for 45 points and the Ants were held to just 32.1 percent shooting from the field.

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Game 2: Overseas Elite vs. City of Gods
Winning $1 million isn’t something that people think about everyday.

“I’m going to invest it...I’m serious,” says Errick McCollum of Overseas Elite, who has a shot at the ultimate prize with a win over City of Gods, 84-71.

It was clear during the second game of the TBT semi-finals that these teams were playing for something huge. High energy dunks, players diving on every ball, and passion for every point scored came through for 36 minutes straight.

The first five minutes of the game gave no signs of a clear winner, until Travis Bader scored his first and only 3-pointer of the half to spark a 14-3 offensive run for Overseas Elite.

Omar Strong kept City of Gods in play with 3-for-3 shooting from beyond the arc in the first half.

Things got heated within the second half as both teams were in the double-bonus early on, with Drexel alum Phil Goss and former George Washington big man Pops Mensah-Bonsu of City of Gods getting in foul trouble with five minutes left in the game. Mensah-Bonsu had a double-double performance as he took down 13 rebounds and netted 10 points throughout the game.

At the 4:07 mark, Strong made another important 3-pointer to keep City of Gods in the game, taking down the lead to just seven points. He would finish with 12 points.

The last-minute effort and a game-leading 22 points from Xavier Silas was not enough for City of Gods, though, and Overseas Elite dribbled out for the win, with five players scoring in double digits.

McCollum, who added 15 points for Overseas Elite, credited the win to finally having a full roster.

“It was a team game...we had the ball moving. That was the difference,” he said, also mentioning a “survive and advance” mentality for the team.

Former St. John's guard Paris Horne, who finished with 16 points and five rebounds, also noted having the team’s guards play against bigs throughout both rounds in Atlanta and Chicago.

“Today we were able to play 100 percent, we didn’t have to conserve energy,” he said about having a roster of eight players instead of the usual five or six.

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Overseas Elite will take on Team 23 in the final tomorrow, 3 p.m. at Fordham. The game will be aired on ESPN.


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