Was it possible for the lowest seed in the Notre Dame 15 Years Tournament to work its magic again in the second round? It nearly happened, but the fates said enough was enough. The 2015-16 Irish held on for just long enough to defeat the 2018-19 Irish, 85-78.
John Mooney closed a back-and-forth first half with a buzzer beater to give the ’18-19 Irish a two-point halftime lead. In the second half, they held a five-point lead and briefly turned a four-point deficit into a one-point lead with five minutes to go. But the ’15-16 Irish followed that with a 9-0 run to go up by eight. Over the final minute-and-a-half, unlikely hero Austin Burgett hit a dagger 3-pointer, then made all eight of his free throws to seal the win, scoring 11 of his 14 points during that stretch.
Steve Vasturia led all scorers with 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field. Zach Auguste scored 16 points, and V.J. Beachem had a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds. Demetrius Jackson coupled 10 points with six assists, and Bonzie Colson grabbed a game-high 14 boards.
Despite shooting 5 of 18 from the field, T.J. Gibbs led the ’18-19 Irish with 16 points. D.J. Harvey scored 15, and Mooney added another double-double to his resume with 12 points and rebounds apiece. Prentiss Hubb scored 11, and Nate Laszewski came off the bench with 10.
