TBT, The Basketball Tournament, tipping off Saturday at Carver Arena. The Bradley Alumni team, Always a Brave, taking on Chicago Hoopville Warriors Saturday night.
Hoopville dominated most of the night, putting Always a Brave in a 16 point hole with about 5 minutes left in the game.
But the Braves start to close it. Patrick O’Bryant nails a three to pull within 11. Magic number to win is 74. Marcellus Sommerville dominates in the final stretch, tallying 11 points in the fourth quarter.
Tajuan Agee makes a foul shot to put Hoopville within a point to win but that’s the last foul shot Hoopville would make. They miss three down the stretch.
Darrell Brown ties the game at 73 with a three. Next basket wins and that basket goes to no other than Sommerville. Always a Brave advances winning 75-73.
“Felt great,” Sommerville said. “Relief and then they jumped on me and I lost all my breath. But it felt good though to be able to win.”
“Kept missing those free throws, I just knew, yeah, our times gone come,” Tony Bennett, Always a Brave guard, said. “We sneakin’ up on ’em, we sneakin’ up on ’em. Sure enough, we got it easier than I thought we would. Marcellus getting the layup but it was one of the hardest games ever.”
“Bradley, and it’s tradition is built on heart,” Daniel Ruffin, Always a Brave head coach, said. “You know, just watching that and not being able to be out there was killing me. I want to thank them for giving me my first win on this level and we’ve got many more to come.”
Always a Brave will now play Jackson Tennessee UnderDawgs Monday at 8 p.m.
