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UPDATE: Here's the streaming video of the second half!
Here's the streaming video of the first half!
IT’S GAME DAY!
Yes, sir, that’s right, it’s time for your very own Marquette Golden Eagles alumni squad to take the court for their first round game in the 2016 edition of The Basketball Tournament.
Let’s get to the details of the event before we dig in deeper.
#6 Golden Eagles Alumni vs #11 Hoopville Warriors
When: Saturday, July 16, 2016, at approximately 9:15pm
Where: The Shannon Center at St. Xavier University in Chicago, IL
Audio/Visual: Whistle Sports is streaming all of the games through Facebook.
Twitter Updates: @thetournament, @GoldenEaglesTBT, and @HoopWarriors
GEA vs Hoopville Warriors will be the final game of the day at the Midwest Regional. Things get started at 9am Central time down in Chicago. The Northeast Regional is also going on today, and that gets started at 8am CT in Philadelphia. Those games, including the team of Villanova alumni, will also be streamed live on Facebook. You can get the full schedule for both regions right here.
First up, a quick rundown on the former Marquette stars that are on the team, in alphabetical order:
- Maurice Acker
- Dwight Burke
- Dwight Buycks
- Joe Chapman
- Davante Gardner
- Marcus Jackson
- Darius Johnson-Odom
- Trent Lockett
- Jerel McNeal
- Jamil Wilson
- Derrick Wilson
Wesley Matthews and Travis Diener are teaming up to coach the team, while Dan Fitzgerald is the GM and Steve Novak is the official booster. Jamil Wilson is on the Lakers’ Summer League team, and they have one final game to play in the very last slot on Friday night. He’s only been playing about 10 minutes a game, but when you don’t leave Vegas until after midnight Chicago time.... I don’t know how available he’ll actually be for the game at 9pm on Saturday. I don’t know what Matthews and Diener are thinking as far as a starting lineup goes, but try this one out and tell me what you think: Buycks, DJO, McNeal, Lockett, and Gardner.
Here’s the roster for Hoopville Warriors:
- Billy Baptist
- Lavonte Douglas
- Malcolm Griffin
- Rico Hill
- Sidney Holmes III
- Mike Malat
- Jonathan Mills
- Steve Roper
- Billy Rush
- Anthony Spencer
- Aaron Weaver
The TBT website describes general manager Britt Booker as "GM/PG," but with 11 guys on the active roster, Booker can’t play for the team this year. Of the active players, only Rico Hill played for a Division 1 team (Illinois State, 1995-98), but all 11 guys list college experience. Hill was actually selected in the NBA Draft in 1999, and not just as a throw-in. He was the #31 overall pick by the Clippers (2nd pick of the 2nd round at the time), but he’s never appeared in the NBA.
Hoopville Warriors have appeared all three editions of The Tournament, and they’ve come away with wins each time. They lost in the quarterfinals in 2014, and fell to Armored Athlete in the Super 17 a year ago. Spencer, Griffin, Baptist, and Hill are all veterans of The Tournament, and with that kind of solid core, they won’t be an easy out for the Golden Eagles.