Defending Champion Carmen's Crew Upset by House of 'Paign in The Basketball Tournament, 76-68

By Dan Hope on July 8, 2020 at 5:48 pm
William Buford vs. House of 'Paign
Ben Solomon/TBT
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Carmen's Crew run as the No. 1 seed in The Basketball Tournament lasted just one game.

The defending TBT champions were upset by No. 16 seed House of 'Paign, 76-68, in its first game in this year's tournament on Wednesday afternoon at Nationwide Arena in Columbus.

The game got off to a slow start for the Ohio State alumni team, as Carmen's Crew made just five of 17 shots from the field and only one of its first seven shots from 3-point range in the first quarter, allowing House of 'Paign to finish the first nine minutes with a 19-15 lead.

Team 1 2 3 4 FINAL
#1 CARMEN'S CREW 15 29 19 18 68
#16 HOUSE OF 'PAIGN 19 20 12 12 76

House of 'Paign's lead grew up to 11 points in the first three minutes of the second quarter, but Carmen's Crew responded in a big way over the next three minutes with a 17-4 run – including a trio of Jon Diebler 3-pointers and a pair of Demetri McCamey threes – to turn a 31-20 deficit into a 37-35 lead.

Carmen's Crew ultimately took a 44-39 lead into halftime, scoring its final points of the first half on an alley-oop from Aaron Craft to Dallas Lauderdale.

Craft, who was planning to retire from professional basketball following this year's TBT but said after the game that he “definitely can't say no” about potentially returning for another TBT next year, limped off the court after suffering a knee injury while going after a loose ball early in the third quarter. Craft was ultimately able to return before the end of the third quarter, but his absence for most of the quarter helped allow House of 'Paign go on a 16-2 run to take a 58-56 lead into the fourth quarter.

House of 'Paign continued to lead for nearly all of the fourth quarter and took a 68-64 lead into the four-minute mark, setting the Elam Ending target score at 76. The Illinois alumni team ultimately scored eight of the last 12 points to win the game by eight.

Mike Daum, who played Ohio State during his collegiate career at South Dakota State in the 2018 NCAA Tournament, led House of 'Paign with 23 points and eight rebounds. Kyle Vinales (16 points), Andres Feliz (15) and Malcolm Hill (11) also finished the game in double figures for the winning side.

David Lighty led Carmen's Crew with 21 points in defeat, but Diebler (11) was the only other player on the losing side to hit double figures.

With Carmen's Crew and Big X both bounced from the tournament on Wednesday, former Ohio State center Trevor Thompson is the only Buckeye remaining in the tournament after helping lead Dayton alumni team Red Scare to a 77-68 win over Big X on Wednesday.

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