The run has come to an end before it even started.
The defending champs and No. 1 overall seed of The Basketball Tournament, Carmen’s Crew, got knocked off by No. 16 seed House of Paign 76-68 Wednesday. The Ohio State alumni team had been one of the prohibitive favorites to win it all again, but a slow start and an injury to point guard Aaron Craft spelled doom for the team.
Despite hitting ending the first quarter down by four points to the Illinois alumni squad, Carmen’s Crew seemed to find itself after a big run in the second quarter and went into the break up 44-39.
It looked like things were going to be just fine and a product of those first-game wrinkles that got ironed out.
But then Craft got injured early in the 3rd quarter after the former OSU players seemed to have their act together, and it seemed to put a fly in the ointment. During his absence, House of Paign went on a significant run and regained the lead 66-64. From there, it remained a tight affair, but House of Paign made the plays behind the hot shooting of Mike Daum. The former South Dakota State star who was a part of the team that bowed out to Ohio State in the NCAA Tournament in 2018 led all scorers with 23 points.
All of the experts overlooked @IlliniTBT heading into TBT 2020.
Today they beat the defending champs in their home city to advance to the quarterfinals 🔸🔹 pic.twitter.com/oeynUU3SEJ
— TBT (@thetournament) July 9, 2020
For Carmen’s Crew, only two players finished the game in double figures. David Lighty led the team with 21 points, with Jon Diebler chipping in eleven.
We’ll now see what happens to this team for next season. Will the nucleus remain, or will their be some significant changes?
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