TBT: 'Men of Mackey' Rally For an 85-79 Win Over Heartfire
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The No. 19-seeded Men of Mackey pulled out a late game comeback via a 12-0 run to propel them past No. 14-seeded Heartfire 85-79 Sunday night at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.
Ryne Smith, the former Boilermaker sharpshooter, coached the squad. All games in the TBT tournament used the Elam ending, an end-of-game format made famous during the 2020 NBA All-Star Game that eliminates the game clock after a certain point and features teams playing to a "target score," to strike back against the Heartfire to secure the victory.
The team — primarily comprised of former Purdue players — was actually led by 34-year old Justin Dentmon, who played at the University of Washington from 2005 to 2009, and has played professionally, mostly overseas, since then.
Dentmon filled it up for 33 points on 10-for-18 shooting, including 6-for-11 from behind the three-point line.
Dentmon's 33-point night was the highest-scoring output so far in the 2020 tournament. He scored 29 of his 33 in the second half, as well.
Men of Mackey hopped out to an early 21-12 lead, but Heartfire responded with a 16-0 run, which helped them take in a 42-35 halftime lead.
Heartfire continued to outpace the Men of Mackey in the second half and claimed a 12-point lead heading into the fourth quarter. However, Men of Mackey showed resilience and kept hanging around, cutting the Heartfire lead to 74-69 after a Dentmon three-pointer.
The Elam Ending was applied when Smith and the Men of Mackey called a timeout with 3:51 left with the score 77-71. In the TBT format, the game clock stops and the target score becomes the leading team's score plus eight points, in this case making the target score at 85.
Heartfire increased its lead to 79-71, courtesy of an Isaiah Austin driving layup. Austin, a former Baylor player, led the Heartfire with 17 points on 7-for-15 shooting.
However, that would be the last time the Heartfire scored as the Men of Mackey tightened up its defense and was just as efficient on the offensive end. The 12-0 run was sparked by Dentmon's six points and Isaac Haas, who finished with a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds and capped off the victory with a layup.
"It was mostly just us communicating and really just finding that will inside,'' said Haas, who played at Purdue from 2014 to 2018 and is now in the Utah Jazz organization. "We talked a lot and kept each other really informed on everything that was going on on the court, so when they kept going to the same stuff every time down the court, we were able to defend it well and force them into bad shots."
Men of Mackey now move on to play Tuesday at 4 p.m. against a team comprised of mostly former Syracuse players. That game will be televised by ESPN.
The event is taking place in Columbus with no fans. It's a single-elimination tournament, and all players are being tested for COVID-19 upon arrival, and are being quarantined during the 10-day event. Former Purdue player Johnny Hill tested positive and wasn't allowed to play.
TBT is a winner-take-all event, with $1 million to go to the winning team in this summer basketball event that will be broadcast live on various ESPN networks. It's also a charity event, and the Mackey crew is playing for the Tyler Trent Foundation.
