Team Brotherly Love 84 - Boeheim’s Army 72: Syracuse guys fall in TBT

Competing in its third game in as many days, Boeheim’s Army squared off against Team Brotherly Love, a team of Philadelphia-area ballers, in the regional semifinals of TBT. The game was physical and close in the first half, but rebounding proved difficult for the former Syracuse Orange players and Team Brotherly Love walked out with an 84-72 win.

Once again the army got out to a slow start and fell behind early and once again it was the play of the cagey veteran Eric Devendorf that kept the Syracuse guys afloat. Still, one of the biggest weakness of the 2-3 zone was exposed as Team Brotherly Love was able to get on the glass for offensive rebounds and second chance points. The rebound disparity grew as the first quarter went on and the Philly guys led 25-20 after the first.

Boeheim’s Army was able to get some solid play off its bench though as Michael Gbinije got going and B.J. Johnson knocked down a 3 and got fouled on another. Devendorf had two nice drives at the end of the second quarter, including a crossover to behind the back series with a spin to his left and finish at the rim. With Devendorf’s 12 points and Gbinije’s play off the bench, Boeheim’s Army was able to walk into the half knotted at 40.

TBL continued its strong play on the offensive end in the second half and once again rushed out to a quick lead, but Hakim Warrick went to work with a pair of dunks and putback after an offensive rebound to keep things close. Still, rebounding proved to be difficult for BA whichhich warranted a switch warranted a out of the 2-3 zone and went man-to-man.

The defense Boeheim’s Army employed didn’t seem to matter much as TBL continued to hit the glass hard, play physical and knock down shots. TBL played tough defense on the Syracuse guys and whistles were hard to come by.

A comeback effort was thwarted by the time the Elam Ending came into effect with Boeheim’s Army trailing 75-62 while giving up a 38-21 rebound differential. A few defensive stops and free throws by Crawford made things interesting in the final minutes, but the point differential was too large to overcome and TBL walked out with the win.

That’s it for it for Boeheim’s Army in TBT 2019. Presumably, Kevin Belbey and the rest of the team will be back again in 2020.

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