THE BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT 2017

CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

OVERSEAS ELITE VS TEAM CHALLENGE ALS

Date: Thursday, August, 3, 2017
Location: Coppin State University in Baltimore, MD
Time: 6pm Central
Television: ESPN
Streaming: WatchESPN
Twitter Updates: @thetournament

One game, two halves, $2 million on the line.

If you can’t get excited about that, I don’t know how to help you, man.

Overseas Elite is looking to make it three straight TBT titles, thus bringing their full payout up to $5 million. Team Challenge ALS is the last test in their way, and they’ve had a bit of a Cinderella run to the TBT title game as the #6 seed out of the West Region, including a double-overtime victory against Scarlet & Gray in Tuesday’s semifinal game.

Casper Ware was the hero early and late for Team Challenge against the Ohio State alumni on Tuesday as he scored two buckets in the second overtime session to bring him up to a game high 28 points. He also snagged six rebounds and dished four assists to drive the offense. General manager Sean Marshall returned after missing the quarterfinals with an injury and came off the bench to score 21 points to propel his squad one step closer to winning $250,000 for the ongoing medical expenses of Pete Frates, Marshall’s Boston College roommate who is battling ALS.

In the other semifinal contest on Tuesday, Overseas Elite built on an early 18-5 run to end up with an 81-77 victory over Boeheim’s Army. OE used long range artillery to attack the Army, connecting on 10 of their 21 long range attempts. Errick McCollum was the primary shooter, going 5-of-7 from distance for his team high 18 points. The Elite had an impressively spread out offensive attack in the game, as seven guys scored at least six points.

The big “What To Watch For” item in the game is what will happen if Team Challenge mounts a lead in the game. While Overseas Elite has won in a variety of fashions while winning 17 straight TBT games, the one that keeps popping up over and over again is their ability to rally. Somehow, I don’t know how, but somehow, OE just keeps on coming back from the dead. Most notably, they bounced back from a 20 point deficit late in the first half in last year’s TBT title game to win their second straight championship. I’m sure they don’t want to have to do that again, but the other side of that is Overseas Elite absolutely believes that they will be able to mount a comeback if they have to do it.