Photo by Nick Henthorn
Herd That’s James Kelly slams home a dunk against Best Virginia in the two team’s Thursday TBT showdown.
WHEELING — It just wasn’t meant to be for Best Virginia on Thursday night.
The top-seeded WVU alumni team led by a point, 49-48, heading to the final 9-minute quarter, but No. 4 Herd That went on a 10-2 run to start the fourth quarter and powered its way to a 74-61 victory in the first semifinal game of The Basketball Tournament inside WesBanco Arena.
With the cherished win, which avenged a 10-point loss to Best Virginia last year in Charleston, Herd That, a Marshall alumni group, will face No. 2 Sideline Cancer on Saturday in the West Virginia Regional title tilt at 2 p.m. That winner plays the Syracuse Regional winner on Sunday at 4 p.m. in an Elite 8 game, with the survivor advancing to the Final Four in Philadelphia.
Jon Elmore drained his fifth three-pointer of the game to cap the upset. He finished with 16 points and was the only Marshall alumni player to make a bonus goal.
“That was awesome. It’s just another play, it’s something I work on every day, coming off screens, shooting shots off the dribble,” Elmore said. “At the end of the day there’s no substitute for practice and hard work, and you just hope you get those moments and you can capitalize. It’s something I practice everyday, and I got an opportunity to showcase it.”
Sideline Cancer defeated No. 3 Challenge ALS: Fla. 60-51 in the other semifinal on Thursday.
The shot left Best Virginia wondering what could’ve been.
Best Virginia led 18-13 after one quarter and 30-27 at the half before reeling off nine of the first 11 points following the 4-minute media timeout in the third stanza. The run was sparked by a double technical on Herd That’s Jacorey Williams who was also ejected from the contest.
Jamel Morris knocked down six consecutive free throws to extend the margin, but Best Virginia head coach James Long thought that was the point in the game where his team lost focus and Herd That capitalized.
“All that craziness happened and we kind of got caught up in it and forgot what the game plan was,” Long noted. “We were worried about a lot of stuff that was going on and not what we were supposed to be doing.
“Defensively, we did what we were supposed to,” he continued, “but offensively we couldn’t make a shot. We had open looks. The shots just didn’t fall.”
Best Virginia shot 30.5 percent from the floor and just 17.2 percent from three-point land. On the other end they limited Herd That to a mere 19.2 percent from beyond the arc but a 27-9 advantage in fast-break points was a major difference.
Elmore drilled a pair of three-pointers to ignite the outburst and Derek Cooke Jr. worked the offensive glass for several key rebounds and added six markers down the stretch. Cooke Jr. would finish with 10 points and a like number of rebounds.
Herd That led in rebounds, 48-41, with 16 of those coming on the offensive end.
“They killed us on the offensive glass, especially in the fourth quarter,” Best Virginia’s Kevin Jones said. “Them getting second chances really hurt.”
The Marshall alumni led 64-55 when the Elam Ending was instituted. However, neither team could find its shooting range before Rob Gray Jr. and Elmore hit back-to-back shots to end things.
Jones paced Best Virginia with another double that featured a game-high 18 points and a game-best 13 rebounds. Only one teammate — Jamel Morris — reached double figures with 13 points.
James Kelly tied Elmore for team scoring honors, while Gray chipped in 15 and J.P.Tokoto 11. Kelly grabbed nine rebounds and Tokoto seven.
TIP-OFFS
–Former West Virginia player and current Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla watched the first half seated next to former WVU head coach Bob Huggins.
–Interim WVU men’s coach Josh Eilert and members of the 2023-24 Mountaineers were also in attendance, as was former Cameron, WVU and Best Virginia product Logan Routt.
–Best Virginia fell to 7-4 all-time in the TBT.