Basketball is back, and Big X is going to see another game.
In return for the first live basketball action on television since March, Big X edged out D2, 79-74, in the first round of the Basketball Tournament on Saturday at Nationwide Arena.
After following D2 for more than 25 minutes in the first 27 minutes through three quarters, Big X converted a 59-57 deficit in the third quarter into a 64-61 lead to start the fourth quarter scored by triple. by Trévon Hughes.
Nick Ward’s consecutive dunks gave Big X a 70-69 lead, and that was the score when Elam Ending was implemented with a target score of 78 points.
Elam Ending turns off the game clock when there are less than four minutes left in the last quarter and scores a target. The target score adds eight points to the main team’s score, and the first team wins the target score.
Former guard Buckeye’s deep jumper CJ Jackson was followed by a Hughes triple for a 75-71 lead. A couple of free throws by Javon Bess set up Jackson’s game winner.
After missing his first attempt with a float in the lane, Jackson cornered his own rebound and pushed a second float through the bottom of the bucket to close it.
CJ Jackson with the float FOR THE WINNER @ BigX_tbt pic.twitter.com/3jYGZBjeiD
– TBT (@thetournament) July 4, 2020
Ward had 18 points, the team’s highest, on 7-of-13 shooting for Big X, while Kevin Capers had 25 points for D2. Mike Davis (13 points for D2) and Javon Bess (11 points for Big X) were the other best scorers in the game.
Despite coming in as No. 9 seed favorites over D2 No. 24, a replacement team called up three days before the start of TBT, Big X came out cold.
Big X took a 1-0 lead with just under nine minutes to play, but after starting to shoot 13 percent in the first quarter, Big X lost 23-9 at the end of the first quarter. However, the group responded with an 11-1 run in the middle of the second period, scored by Kellen Dunham’s triple to reduce the margin to 28-24, and D2 finally extended their lead to 36-30 at halftime.
Big X didn’t take its second lead of the game until the four-minute mark of the third quarter, which came through a laser pass with one hand from Jackson for a Ward transition cube for a 46-45 lead.
However, D2 responded quickly, regaining the lead a few moments later with a jumper Mike Davis, and held a 59-57 lead late in the third period after a Kellen Dunham rainbow triple from the corner to start the rally. final.
A clash of Ohio-based teams awaits in the second round, as Big X will play No. 8 Red Scare at 2 p.m. Wednesday on ESPN.
Red Scare primarily features alumni from the University of Dayton, including former Flyer stars Kyle Davis, Darrell Davis, Trey Landers, and Devin Oliver, plus former Buckeye center Trevor Thompson.
