Big X advances to second round of The Basketball Tournament

Big X, a team with a couple of former Ohio State players, squeezed past D2 78-74 to advance to the 2nd round of The Basketball Tournament.

Most of you are likely following the Ohio State alumni team Carmen’s Crew during The Basketball Tournament, but there’s another team that has some former Buckeyes playing in the winner-take-all summer basketball tourney that has captured the fancy of many OSU fans over the last couple of years.

Team Big X did have more Buckeyes slated to play on the team, but the Wesson brothers decided not to play for personal reasons, and  Keyshawn Woods could not join the team because of exposure to COVID-19.

But that’s okay. Former Ohio State players C.J. Jackson and Andrew Dakich are still on the team and looking to make a deep run. So far so good, as the team advanced to the second round, but not without some struggles. Despite being the No. 9 seed and favored against No. 24 seed D2, Big X trailed for most of the game before finally wrestling the lead away late in the game with a little bit of a run.

Former Michigan State big man Nick Ward was huge down the stretch, providing two back-to-back dunks to give Big X the lead 70-69 when the Elam Ending was put into place. From there, C.J. Jackson hit a deep jumper as a part of a mini-run, then ended it with a tear-drop in the lane to reach the go past the targeted score of 78 to D2’s score of 74.

The next game should be fun for Big X as it faces an Ohio based team out of Dayton, the No. 8 seed Red Scare, at 2PM on Wednesday.

 

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