WHEELING, W.Va. — After three quarters of basketball, it was just about as close as you would expect a rivalry game to be. The first five minutes of the fourth would be the deciding factor as Herd That defeated Best Virginia 74-61, eliminating them from the 2023 TBT Tournament.
“We were worried about a lot of stuff other than what was going on next, “Best Virginia head coach James Long said. “Struggled to score, but man they’re good.
An in-state rivalry played out in TBT form on Thursday, and it was as physical, sluggish, and competitive as rivalry games are supposed to be. No. 1 Best Virginia (West Virginia alumni) led No. 4 Herd That (Marshall alumni) 49-48 entering the fourth quarter.
Minutes later, Herd That led 62-52 as they went on a 14-3 run to open the fourth quarter including a pair of triples from Jon Elmore and six points from Derek Cooke.
Best Virginia had no response, shooting 1-for-16 from the field in the fourth quarter, including missing five free throws, and turning the ball over four times in the final quarter and Elam Ending.
“Just worried about guys never going to see the floor chirping. They’re just trying to stay relevant, and we were giving into it. Just kind of turned into a joke there for a while,” Long said of his team unable to stay focused.
The offense seemed to be flowing early for Best Virginia as they led 13-4 early in the first quarter. Kevin Jones scored six early points, and Herd That could not find consistency on the offensive end.
From that point on Best Virginia’s offense was shaky and could not buy a make from beyond the arc.
On the evening, Best Virginia shot 30.5 percent from the field and went 5-for-29 from three. They also turned the ball over 19 times and went 20-for-30 from the free throw line.
“They’re good but the way they play they want to get you to mess up,” Long added. They do as good a job as anybody at capitalizing on mistakes.”
Best Virginia took a 30-27 lead into halftime as both teams were crawling on offense. In the third the intensity of the game was taken to another level.
At the media timeout, Herd That’s Jacorey Williams was ejected as he picked up two technical fouls, and Best Virginia’s Erik Stevenson picked up his fifth personal foul as well. Best Virginia would respond well, going on a 9-2 run and taking an eight-point lead with 2:18 to play.
The next basket Best Virginia would score would come in the Elam Ending portion.
“Offensively in the Elam we were definitely pressing, especially when you’re not shooting well through the game,” Long said. “It just takes one to change the rhythm of the team and I was just hoping one would go in for that reason.”
Herd That had five scorers reach the double-digit scoring mark, including Rob Gray scoring 15 and James Kelly along with Elmore chipping in with 16 points. Best Virginia once again had a strong performance out of Kevin Jones, with him scoring 18 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. Jamel Morris added another 13 points but went 4-for-18 from the field.
Herd That advances to the Wheeling Regional final against the winner of Sideline Cancer and Challenge ALS.
Photo from Ben Solomon, TBT
