Nasty Nati Owns Second Half to Win Opening TBT Game 88-76 Over The Money Team

Jarron Cumberland and Jacob Evans had big nights.

Author:
Russ Heltman
Updated:
Jul 21, 2023 9:55 PM EDT

In this story:

CINCINNATI — Nasty Nati got the job done at Cintas Center with a comeback win 88-76 over The Money Team in the opening round of The Basketball Tournament.

The victory marks the first win at Cintas Center for every Bearcats alum on the roster. Jacob Evans (24 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists) and Jarron Cumberland (28 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists) looked like their old selves in Bearcat uniforms with a vintage performance in the second year for Nasty Nati.

Nati fell in the opening round last year but now set up for a potential matchup against Xavier's alumni team, Zip Em Up.

UPDATE: Zip Em Up rattled off a 15-2 run to close the game 84-78 against Georgia Kings and lock in the big matchup against Nasty Nati.

Bearcat Ball

Troy Caupain discussed this week how Nasty Nati wanted to show a uniform physical mentality in this tournament and they did that throughout the contest.

The veteran roster hammered the glass all night and lived in the paint with plenty of efficiency on deep shots. Nati outscored TMT 32-14 in the paint and held a 15-10 offensive rebound advantage (41-30 overall).

It was a performance reminiscent of the late-era Mick Cronin teams. The squad notched 9 steals on a night where the defensive intensity and deflections in the paint created plenty of extra opportunities.

Nasty Nati only hit 68% of its 22 free throws on Friday, leaving an even higher offensive ceiling if the three-point shot (11-of-22) cools off on Saturday.

Cumberland, Evans, Curtains

Cumberland and Evans were major catalysts for the victory with 33 second-half points on some fantastic shotmaking. The former is coming off a great season in Mexico and mixed a deadly three-point shot with an 8-of-12 night at the line.

Cumberland bullied his way down the lane and became a double-team magnet, sparking a team-high 5 assists. He was the all-around talent Nati needs to take home $1 million.

Meanwhile, Evans displayed a whole other wing repertoire. He was a hound on the glass and made multiple high-level mid-range shots to round out an 8-of-16 night from the field. The dynamic wing also added in four assists and strong defense.

Both players led the team in minutes and showed how high a ceiling this long, defensive roster can hit when shots are falling.

Next up is Zip Em Up on Saturday night in the Cintas Center at 8 p.m. ET.

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