Semi-Finals of TBT set after Sunday’s regional finals; Overseas Elite keeps rolling

The Basketball Tournament’s (TBT) big money prize is once again in sight for the two-time champion Overseas Elite - led by St. John’s alumni D.J.Kennedy and Paris Horne. Winning two games in Brooklyn, the Overseas team bucks the upset trend and gives St. John’s a rooting interest in next week’s final four of TBT games.

In addition to the two-time defending champions Overseas Elite, Boeheim’s Army, Scarlet and Gray, and Team Challenge ALS all moved one step closer to the $2-million-dollar grand prize of The Basketball Tournament by winning their regional final games Sunday in Brooklyn.

Overseas Elite is the only #1 seed to make it into the semi-finals. Team Challenge ALS is the lowest seed of the four teams still left, and had to beat the second and third seeds in the west regional in order to make it this far.

Led by Casper Ware’s 21 points, Team Challenge ALS continued their underdog run with a comfortable 75-63 win over Armored Athlete. Their defense was able to hold Armored Athlete to less than 35% overall from the field, and 23.8% from behind the arc. According to the team’s profile on the tournament’s website, if they win they plan to donate some of the winnings to ALS research.

The third team to progress into the semifinals, made up of all Ohio State Alumni, is Scarlet and Gray. The OSU alums dominated the top-seeded Golden Eagles (Marquette Alumni) 81-65. The team features former NBA player Jared Sullinger, and former all-BIG 10 defender Aaron Craft. Craft used his driving ability to break down the defense, and with shooters like William Buford and Dave Lighty on the wings, the Golden Eagles had no answer. They led by as many as 30 points, and held their opponents to 16% shooting from deep.

Overseas Elite started their weekend with an 84-76 win over the Tampa Bulls (University of South Florida alumni). The team was led by former University of Arizona Wildcat Kyle Fogg, who scored 19 points off the bench. D.J. Kennedy struggled shooting the ball, but still managed to score 11 points in 22 minutes of action.

Following up Friday’s win, the team then took on the second seeded Ram Nation (VCU alumni). D.J. Kennedy still only shot 4-for-12 from the field, but captured a double-double with 11 points and ten rebounds. Kyle Fogg carried his momentum from Friday night into Sunday, scoring a game-high 26 points on 50% shooting.

Of all the teams to make it this far, Boeheim’s Army has definitely the most tested. In their second round game, the Syracuse alumni needed triple overtime to beat the 11^th seeded Gaelnation, featuring D`Angelo Harrison, 2015 St. John’s alum.

In the regional final, they found themselves down 25 points with 12 minutes to go against Sean Evans and Team FOE. James Southerland’s 23 points helped the former Orangemen outscore FOE 48-27 in the second half to secure the 65-61 win over the St. John’s alum and his Philadelphia squad.

The other three teams have the tough task of dethroning Overseas Elite. With a career tournament record of 17-0, and led by the St. John’s alumnus Kennedy, Overseas Elite has found themselves down double-digits in multiple games this tournament, including the regional final which they won 86-79, but still have won all their games by at least seven points.

Overseas Elite is slated to play Boeheim’s Army Tuesday, August 1^st at 9:00 PM ET in Baltimore. Team Challenge ALS and Scarlet and Gray will square off before them at 7:00 PM ET.

Both games can be seen on ESPN.