Boeheim's Army Advances to Title Game on Back of Tyrese Rice
Boeheim's Army advanced to The Basketball Tournament championship game with a 66-64 win over Florida TNT. The win was in typical BA fashion, coming back from a double digit deficit including a five point disadvantage in the Elam Ending period. Tyrese Rice was the star, scoring all 13 points for Boeheim's Army during the Elam Ending as he willed the team to victory. He finished with 24 points, seven assists, three rebounds.
The play that ended the game was a Rice steal from Florida TNT point guard Kenny Boynton. After the steal, Rice sprinted up court, bobbled the ball, but gathered in time to convert a transition layup and send Boeheim's Army to the championship game.
Boeheim's Army will play the winner of Blue Collar U and Team 23. The title game tips at 9:00 p.m. eastern on Tuesday, August 3rd and will be broadcast on ESPN.
Boeheim's Army struggled shooting from the outside, finishing just 6-20 from beyond the arc. Despite that, the Syracuse alumni team scrapped and clawed its way to another come from behind victory.
Florida TNT took control early and led by as many as 11. Keith Clanton was dominating in the paint, Boeheim's Army was struggling to hit shots, and TNT seemed ready to blow the game open. Then CJ Fair entered the game.
In 11 first half minutes, Fair had six points, seven rebounds and a pair of assists as he sparked a run at the end of the first half to trim the deficit to 34-33.
That momentum did not carry over to the beginning of the second half, however, as Florida TNT scored the first six points to extend the lead back to seven. The advantage was five for Florida TNT entering the fourth quarter.
Chris McCullough scored five straight points early in the quarter to give Boeheim's Army its first lead 50-49. Florida TNT responded with seven straight points to regain the lead and momentum. Boeheim's Army trailed 58-53 entering the Elam Ending period with a target score of 66.
That is when Tyrese Rice took over. He scored the first 11 points of the period to give Boeheim's Army a shot. With the game tied at 64, and both teams two points away from a victory, Rice stole the ball and scored a transition layup to clinch a title game appearance.
Florida TNT was led by Keith Clanton, who finished with 18 points, 16 rebounds and two blocks on 8-11 shooting. The rest of Florida TNT shot just 30.6% from the floor. Despite Clanton's dominance in the paint, Boeheim's Army outscored TNT there 32-28.
Chris McCullough was also really good for Boeheim's Army, scoring 18 points on 7-13 shooting and grabbing seven rebounds. Boeheim's Army turned it over just six times as a team, while forcing 11 from Florida TNT. The last of those 11 led to Rice's game winning layup.
