Even with former Ohio State head coach Thad Matta in the building on Tuesday night, Scarlet & Gray — comprised of eight former Buckeyes — fell to sentimental favorite Team Challenge ALS, 88-83, in double-overtime of their Final Four matchup at The Basketball Tournament.
| 1 | 2 | OT | OT2 | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #2 THE SCARLET & GRAY | 28 | 39 | 11 | 5 | 83 |
| #6 TEAM CHALLENGE ALS | 30 | 37 | 11 | 10 | 88 |
Nine first-half turnovers, three fouls on point guard Aaron Craft and a 7-0 run in the waning minutes helped Team Challenge ALS to a 30-28 lead at the intermission. Austin Daye, who paced all scorers at the half with 12, and Sean Marshall helped extend that lead to seven points early in the second half. But with Craft now on the bench with five fouls, Scarlet & Gray went on a 10-0 run to surge into the lead.
A bucket from Team Challenge ALS knotted the score at 43-all with just over 12 minutes to play.
It was a sloppy back-and-forth affair for a few minutes before Team Challenge ALS started to pull away slowly. Craft came off the bench with just under five minutes remaining, though, and his aggressiveness on the offensive end and corner three-pointer helped Scarlet & Gray pull even once again at 63 apiece with just over two minutes left in the contest.
Team Challenge ALS took the lead by splitting a pair of free throws, which was subsequently followed up by a charge on Scarlet & Gray center Jared Sullinger. He was called for a blocking foul at the other end, and another at the charity stripe from Daye pushed the lead to two.
With just under 90 seconds remaining in the contest, Sullinger was fouled at the other end. He, too, split the pair to pull Scarlet & Gray within one. A turnover by Team Challenge ALS led to another foul on Sullinger, who — this time — hit both to put Scarlet & Gray ahead, 66-65, with just a tick under 50 seconds remaining.
David Lighty's free throw put Scarlet & Gray ahead by two, but a foul on Craft — his sixth — on a three-pointer gave Team Challenge ALS a chance to win the game with four seconds remaining. After Casper Ware made only two of three, Lighty missed the potential game-winner at the buzzer.
Shots were starting to fall in the overtime period, as William Buford hit a huge three-pointer to put Scarlet & Gray up 72-69. It was answered on the other end, though. The teams traded buckets once again, but a defensive stop at a free throw put Team Challenge ALS up two with just over a minute remaining in the extra period.
A turnover and a pair of free throws at the other end put Team Challenge ALS up four before Buford's three-pointer and the foul tied the game once more at 78-all.
Ware, who led all scorers with 28 points, took over in the second overtime period. His basket with 15 seconds left put Team Challenge ALS up three, and Scarlet & Gray was unable to answer on the ensuing possession.
Team Challenge ALS will now take on the winner of back-to-back tournament champion Overseas Elite and third-ranked Boeheim's Army in the championship game on Thursday, Aug. 3. Tip off of that game from Baltimore is at 7 p.m.
