Best Virginia Survives Scare and Advances
Charleston, WV – Best Virginia forward Kevin Jones put up a double-double, leading all scorers and Best Virginia to a 70-67 over WoCo Showtime (Wofford alumni) the in first round of The Basketball Tournament (TBT).
John Flowers put Best Virginia on the board first with a tough step back off the wing to tie the game at two, and second on the team with 15 points. However, WoCo built an early 15-6 lead before Best Virginia head coach James Long called a timeout with just over a minute to play in the first quarter.
Best Virginia ramped up the pressure and closed out the quarter with a 6-0 run to get back within three.
"I mean, that’s what we do. That’s what we’ve been built on long before we got to TBT together," said Long. “So, a game like that, you have to turn the number of possessions up. That’s what they want, they want low possession, methodical, slow tempo pace game, and they’re great at that. They’re great players with a great system and probably the best shooter in TBT. We just ramped up the ball pressure, it’s going to steal you possessions and steal you some points, and I think that’s what kind of turned it.”
Flowers kept the run rolling into the second with two early buckets before Juwan Staten drove the lane for the contested lay-in to put Best Virginia up three and capping a 12-0 run.
Best Virginia held a one-point lead at the break and came out of the half constructing an 11-0 run and grabbing a 12-point lead, capped off by a pair of jumpers from Tarik Phillip, who finished with a double-double, 11 points, and 10 rebounds, but WoCo would not go out quietly, clawing their way back to within five before the end of the third.
Mike Lawrence/TBT
At the start of the fourth quarter, Best Virginia extended their lead back to double digits, building to a fourteen-point lead with a little over five minutes to play, and held an 11-point advantage when the Elam Ending was announced with just under four minutes left to play.
However, again, WoCo battled back and came down to the next basket wins the game. Following the second consecutive turnover by Best Virginia, WoCo’s Lee Skinner had the pass deflected on the other end by Juwan Staten, Tarik Phillip scooped it up and pushed it ahead to Kevin Jones for the final bucket and the win.
“We only had one point to score, and we were shooting tough shots except for the one Jon had wide open - that was a good shot, but try and get something easy, and I saw an opportunity for a fast break,” said Jones.
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