Dayton, Ohio — $1 million! So much stress!
Boeheim’s Army won all the money Tuesday night here in the Dayton Arena in a game that was tightly contested all the way.
Keifer Sykes won it with a 3-ball to get to the target score of 69. Final score: Boeheim’s Army 69, Team 23 67.
Boeheim’s Army took a 33-32 lead into the locker room in what was an evenly contested first half. The teams made exactly the same amount of field goals (13). Boeheim’s Army made one more 3-point shot.
But Team 23 aired it out a bit in the third quarter when Boeheim’s Army had all kinds of trouble scoring. That brought us to the fourth and final quarter when Keifer Sykes had himself some fun.
We went into the Elam Ending with BA leading 61-60. First one to 69 wins! Boeheim’s Army built a 66-62 lead before Eric Griffin drained a 3 to tighten things up.
Chris McCullough had an open wing 3-point shot to win it, but the ball went in and out and Team 23 grabbed the miss.
Both teams were playing for their first-ever TBT championship. A quartet of Boeheims watched from press row and a trio of SU coaches observed from their seats at halfcourt.
>> Box score
Here’s what happened:
Neither team shot the ball lights-out in that first half. It’s been a trend for Boeheim’s Army this entire tournament.
BA shot 41% overall and 31% from the 3-point in that first half. It stayed in the game because it rebounded the ball and because Team 23 wasn’t all that much better in the scoring department. (43%, 30%).
Boeheim’s Army opened a 5-point lead with 3:24 left in the second quarter after Andrew White drained a 3-point shot and Chris McCullough found DJ Kennedy underneath. But Team 23 methodically marched back to get to within 1 at the break.
Deandre Kane, Boeheim’s Army’s toughest, staunchest defender, left the game early in the first quarter with an apparent groin strain.
He has been the defensive stopper for Boeheim’s Army this entire TBT. He tried to jog lightly on the sideline. He engaged with a trainer. But in the end, he was forced to spend the rest of the game on the Boeheim’s Army bench. Kane played four minutes Tuesday, recorded two points and grabbed a rebound.
The third quarter was pivotal in this game.
Boeheim’s Army shot 4-of-12 from the floor during that span. Team 23 shots 8-of-14. The Army needed more scoring from somebody other than its two point guards. Sykes and Rice scored every one of Boeheim’s Army’s field goals during that stretch. Malachi Richardson missed three shots during one span and Team 23 scored at the other end after two of those misses.
Keifer Sykes was clutch in the fourth quarter for Boeheim’s Army. He converted a traditional 3-point play when he drove, banked a shot and got a free throw, too. Then he sank a 17-footer over outstretched Team 23 arms. By that point, he had 15 points and all the Boeheims were up and cheering. On the next Boeheim’s Army possession, he passed to a diving Chris McCullough, who converted at the rim to give BA a 59-58 lead.
Juli, Jim, Buddy and Jimmy Boeheim sat courtside for the game. Jimmy and Buddy and spent the brief period before tip talking to friends/fans and posing for photos, while Jim obliged the ESPN people.
SU, too, was represented by associate head coach Adrian Autry and assistant coaches Gerry McNamara and Allen Griffin, who sat midcourt and did quite a bit of cheering. They were sitting right behind me, and let’s just say they were into it.
Super fans with obvious ties to the program: There have been no fans more loyal to Boeheim’s Army over the years than the parents of Kevin and Shaun Belbey.
This and that: The game was not well-attended and the fans that were in the beautifully renovated Dayton Arena were primarily Syracuse/Boeheim’s Army fans. That dynamic — the ability to fill arenas — seems largely dependent on which teams reach the final and the city in which the games are played. … The money for the winning players/coaches/GMs is immediately deposited via Zelle into the bank accounts of those people. I’m told it happens right after the final buzzer sounds. … Eric Devendorf, who did not play in Boeheim’s Army’s last game, sank his first shot — a 3-pointer — when he entered the fray on Tuesday. … Boeheim’s Army played mostly with Rice and Sykes at the guard spots on Tuesday. Both are super quick, can get to spots and had been reasonably reliable from the 3-point line, an area BA has struggled with this summer.
