Scarlet Sunrise: Carmen's Crew dominates Takeover BC early, eventually reaches TBT semis

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Carmen’s Crew dominates Takeover BC early, eventually reaches TBT semis

Takeover BC entered a Monday night showdown with Carmen’s Crew having averaged 89 points over its first three games in The Basketball Tournament (TBT).

That’s what made Carmen’s Crew’s first half of the quarterfinal matchup all the more impressive in Louisville’s Freedom Hall. Carmen’s Crew, the unofficial Ohio State alumni team, conceded only 25 points to Takeover BC by intermission.

Led by former University of Texas-Arlington guard Erick Neal, Carmen’s Crew applied suffocating on-ball pressure. Carmen’s Crew took Takeover BC’s top-two players, AJ English (Iona) and Desi Washington (St. Peter’s University), out of the game early.

Meanwhile, nine Carmen’s Crew players had scored by the 7:13 mark in the second quarter. Carmen’s Crew had a field day from beyond the arc, hitting 16-of-38, or 42.1%, of its triples. Spearheaded by Andre Wesson’s 16 points, Carmen’s Crew led by as many as 40 points but won by only 16, 90-74, after a sluggish fourth quarter, including a messy Elam Ending, where both Neal and Takeover BC’s Jaquan Lightfoot (Southeastern Community College and Trinity Valley Community College) were ejected after each picking up their second technical.

That doesn’t change the bottom line, though: 3-seed Carmen’s Crew is off to Philadelphia, where it will face 2-seed La Familia, Kentucky’s unofficial alumni team, in TBT semifinal play Friday at 9 p.m. on FS1.

Despite a bumpy ending to Monday night’s game against Takeover BC, Carmen’s Crew finished with the upper hand in total rebounds (44-32), offensive rebounds (15-8), second-chance points (17-5), assists (22-6), points in the paint (24-18), fastbreak points (10-4) and bench points (39-29).

Eight Carmen’s Crew players rounded out the contest with seven or more points, including Jared Sullinger (7 points), who splashed his first 3-pointer of TBT and notched a team-high 10 rebounds. Neal (12 points) and former East Tennessee State guard Desonta Bradford (10 points) joined Wesson in double figures. One-time Memphis guard Chris Crawford (21 points) and Washington (19 points) paced Takeover BC.

Bradford drilled the Elam Ender, giving Carmen’s Crew its fourth straight win.

Kansas State grad transfer guard Ques Glover joining Buckeyes

Ohio State added journeyman guard Ques Glover Monday. Glover joins the Buckeyes after spending two years at Florida, two years at Samford and then making a pit stop at BYU before settling in at Kansas State for the 2023-24 season.

But Glover didn’t play a game for K-State last year. He suffered a season-ending knee injury and redshirted the season. So, really, the veteran point guard has only played games at Florida and Samford. Now he’d like to add Ohio State to that list.

Glover’s addition gives the Buckeyes more depth at the guard position after Taison Chatman tore his ACL earlier this summer.

For more on Glover, head on over here.

Five Questions for Buckeyes as offseason ends, training camp opens this week

Training camp begins for Ohio State football this week, and that means Lettermen Row is ramping up its preview coverage, starting with five questions for the team ahead of the August grind.

The biggest question is, “How long will the quarterback battle last?”

Head coach Ryan Day has typically taken the competition into late August. Last year, it technically dragged into the regular season. Day is hoping for better results from the position this time around, though. Plus, offensive coordinator and play-caller Chip Kelly is the quarterbacks coach now.

It will be interesting to see how that plays out, and the same goes for other intriguing Buckeyes camp storylines that Lettermen Row overviews here.

Counting Down

Buckeyes vs. Akron: 32 days
Buckeyes vs. Michigan: 123 days

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