Rob Gray has been as good as anybody in this year’s version of The Basketball Tournament. It was only fitting that the former Houston Cougar standout had the ball in his hands with a spot in the TBT championship game on the line.
Leading 76-74 with a target score of 78 in the Elam Ending, Gray crossed his defender over, drove to his left, stopped and hit a game-winning jumper to lead Forever Coogs past Eberlein Drive in the first TBT semifinal matchup Friday night.
The second game of the night featured a matchup between former consensus first-team All-Americans and first-round NBA Draft picks Jared Sullinger and Willie Cauley-Stein. While Cauley-Stein’s La Familia team was favored, it was Sullinger’s Carmen’s Crew team who left with a 76-70 victory and a spot in Sunday’s TBT championship game.
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Sullinger had 16 points and seven rebounds, while Desonta Bradford added 15 points as Carmen’s Crew took one step closer to the $1 million prize.
Here are the top plays from Friday night’s TBT semifinal matchups:
Carmen’s Crew 76, La Familia 70
Carmen’s Crew shot 14-of-33 from downtown, including this knockdown 3-pointer from Jamel Morris, which gave his team a double-digit lead late in the third quarter.
La Familia made a late run to get back into the game, but former Ohio State big man Kaleb Wesson and Carmen’s Crew were not going away. The former Buckeye knocked down a huge 3-pointer with just under five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter to extend the lead to seven for Carmen’s Crew.
Leading 73-70 in the Elam Ending with a target score of 76, Morris took a handoff from Sullinger, took one dribble and drained a deep 3-pointer as the crowd erupted and the Carmen’s Crew players ran to celebrate with him.
Forever Coogs 76, Eberlein Drive 73
Trailing 5-3 early on in the game, Melvin Frazier Jr. came up with a big block and Forever Coogs got out in transition. Gray led the break and found former Houston Cougar Justin Goram, who scored with some power.
Holding onto a narrow lead late in the first half, Gray and Tashawn Thomas ran a perfect pick-and-roll, which resulted in a thunderous one-handed slam for Thomas.
Gray has been a star throughout this year’s TBT, and a big part of his game is his outside shooting. Leading 52-44 with just over 3 minutes remaining in the third quarter, Gray received an outlet pass, took one dribble and drained a deep 3-pointer to give Forever Coogs a double-digit lead.
Eberlein Drive came storming back and closed the gap late in the fourth quarter as former Washington standout Terrell Brown pulled up for a short jumper, which swished through the hoop to make it a two-point game.
Forever Coogs and Carmen’s Crew will play in Sunday’s TBT championship game at 2 p.m. ET Sunday on FOX.
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