Carmen's Crew TBT run ends in Round of 16
COLUMBUS — Following a pair of decisive wins in the Dayton region of The Basketball Tournament (TBT), Carmen’s Crew, Ohio State men’s basketball’s unofficial alumni team, went cold Saturday night.
In the second half, that is.
Fourth-seeded Carmen’s Crew entered intermission with a five-point lead but shot a meager 35% in the final two quarters of action, ultimately falling to second-seeded Friday Beers, 72-63, in the Round of 16.
Former Ohio State big man Kaleb Wesson, who was coming off a 10-and-11 double-double Friday night against India Rising, scored a team-high 18 points in the loss. Plus, one-time Bowling Green forward Scott Thomas chipped in 16 points.
But Carmen’s Crew was without sharpshooter William Buford — the TBT MVP when Carmen’s Crew won it all in 2019 — for the second straight game. What’s more, contributors Kyle Young, a former Ohio State forward, and Javon Bess, a former Michigan State guard, combined for one point.
Meanwhile, Friday Beers converted 11-of-25 attempts from beyond the arc. The team was paced by former Arizona guard Gabe York and former Miami guard Rion Brown: Both notched 19 points, but Brown hit that mark off the bench. They teamed up for eight triples, in large part thanks to Brown going 5-of-6 from long range.
After shooting 38% from the field in the first half, but staying in the game because of its 3-point shooting, Friday Beers kicked off the third quarter with a 15-5 run, taking control of the driver’s seat in the process.
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Carmen’s Crew put up a fight in the fourth quarter, but it was too little, too late. And former Mississippi State guard Dee Bost sealed the deal with a game-clinching, off-balanced 3-pointer to reach the target score of 72 points.
Carmen’s Crew had previously beaten India Rising and Team Overtime to advance to the Round of 16.
After taking a year off, Carmen’s Crew returned to TBT in 2023 in pursuit of the winner-take-all, $1 million prize with a new look. The roster included five players from the Chris Holtmann’s tenure at Ohio State: Kyle Young, C.J. Jackson, Keyshawn Woods, Andre Wesson and Kaleb Wesson, all of whom played for the Buckeyes at some point between 2017 and 2022.
Trevor Thompson, who played at Ohio State in 2016-17 — the year before Holtmann’s arrival — was part of this year’s team as well. So was Buford, another fellow Buckeyes alum (2008-12).
The rest of the roster consisted of Bess (Gahanna Lincoln, Michigan State/Saint Louis), Thomas (Buckeye Valley, Bowling Green), Jalen Tate (Pickerington HS Central, Northern Kentucky/Arkansas) and Malik Dime (Senegalese center, played for Indian Hills CC/Washington).
Coached by former Ohio State forward Jared Sullinger, Carmen’s Crew already indicated that it will be back in TBT next year.
