Best Virginia will look to make the alumni teams two-for-two at the Pittsburgh Regional following a win for the Happy Valley Hoopers.
The West Virginia alumni team takes on the Brotherly Love Pro Am Foundation, returning to TBT after a two-year hiatus.
Langston Wilson, Bijan Johnson, Sam Akano, James Stanback, and Christian Lyons are the starters for coach Stan Laws, Jr. and Brotherly Love.
Best Virginia’s starters are Marcus Keene and Tarik Phillip at guard and Wesley Harris, Esa Ahmad, and Devin Williams in the front court.
Quarter 1
Esa Ahmad kicked off the scoring for Best Virginia, scoring the first two points of the game and making the free throw shot to go with it. Best Virginia leads 3-0.
A Best Virginia steal and Brotherly Love block set the tone for defense early in the first, but Ahmad grabs an offensive rebound to keep the scoring category in Best Virginia’s favor. Marcus Keene knocks down a three for an 8-0 lead and Brotherly Love timeout.
Out of the timeout, Devin Williams makes a three before James Stanback matches it to get Brotherly Love on the board. Keene and Wilson trade threes before Wesley Harris slams it down with two hands and hangs on the rim to mark the 16-6 lead.
Tarik Phillip knocks down a shot despite getting fouled and, like Ahmad, makes the free throw for a three-point play. Rashon Johnson scores for Brotherly Love before Marcus Keene makes his own three-point play, this time a simple three from beyond the arc. Best Virginia leads 22-8.
Jonathan Holton misses his first attempt, a three, for Best Virginia before Johnson is left wide open on a drive in from the right wing. His layup attempt comes up short, but Best Virginia cannot take advantage on the other end ahead of the media timeout.
Bijan Johnson goes to the line for Brotherly Love after a Best Virginia make from Sagaba Konate. He makes the first but misses the second, leading to a Rashon Johnson jumper. Xavier Bledson matches the three-point sequence on the other end, making his first attempt for Best Virginia.
Holton knocks down a deep three from the right side, Taz Sherman finishes through contact, and Xavier Bledson knocks down a three to end the half for Best Virginia. Brotherly Love scores once more in between but trails 35-13 at the end of the first.
Quarter 2
Neither team can get things started offensively in the second, but Bijan Johnson ends the scoring slump by tearing inside from halfcourt for a close layup off the glass. Best Virginia then immediately matches it with a Wesley Harris layup. Langston Wilson makes a close hook and Esa Ahmad drives in to trade buckets again. Best Virginia leads 39-17.
Esa Ahmad ends the basket trading by grabbing a tough rebound off a missed Tarik Phillip jump shot and going back up for a layup. He then grabs the steal on the other end and throws the outlet pass to Phillip for a dunk, extending the lead to 26.
Teyvon Myers creates his own shot in the form of a deep step-back two. Robert Morris alum Lucious Jones makes a three for Brotherly Love on the other end, but Devin Williams gets back for a layup. He has seven points.
With 3:57 remaining in the half, Best Virginia shows good ball movement but ends with the poor shot choice from Ahmad, and Bijan Johnson converts on the other end to cut the deficit. Christian Lyons gets on the board as well for two.
Best Virginia’s substitutions cannot stop the new Brotherly Love run, as Ahmad’s shot is blocked way up high by James Stanback. Sam Akano drives in at the other end to make the game 47-26 and force the Best Virginia timeout.
Spacing for Best Virginia becomes a lot less fluid, leading to another miss and Brotherly Love make on the other end. Sagaba Konate ends the run, though, making a three, Best Virginia’s first shot in three minutes. That becomes the last field goal of the half, as Sam Akano gets fouled by Phillip and knocks down both free throws. The alumni lead 50-33 at the half.
Quarter 3
First shot of the half is a Wesley Harris miss from the top of the key. Esa Ahmad gets the first point shortly thereafter, making his second of two free throw attempts. Brotherly Love then pulls ahead for the half with a Langston Wilson make, which is then matched by Harris inside.
After a couple of misses, Devin Williams is blocked by Christian Lyons, who tips the ball out of bounds. Brotherly Love does get the stop, but Bijan Johnson turns the ball over on the other side to keep second-half scoring low with 6:28 left in the third quarter.
Marcus Keene gets contact but makes the layup. He knocks down his free throw to bring the Best Virginia lead back to 21 points. Sam Akano makes one of two from the line for Brotherly Love, but Teyvon Myers comes the other way with another and-one make.
Xavier Bledson misses from mid-range, and Xavier Bledson makes it from long-range. Sagaba Konate puts the emphasis on the new Best Virginia run, slamming down a powerful dunk to make the game 64-38.
After misses from both teams, Akano gets back at Konate with a right-handed dunk. He follows it with a three off the left wing to reduce the lead back to 21 ahead of the media timeout.
Best Virginia scores out of the timeout on a sneaky up-and-under by Holton off the inbound pass by Bledson. Rashon Johnson gets three opportunities inside but cannot get the ball in the basket, as Taz Sherman comes the other way for three.
Lucious Jones makes a layup, but Xavier Bledson makes his impact known once again as he knocks down a three far on the right wing to crack 70 Best Virginia points. Sherman makes a three in exchange for an Akano layup. Best Virginia misses the final attempt of the quarter.
Best Virginia leads Brotherly Love 75-49.
Quarter 4
Wesley Harris starts the scoring with a three from the left corner. Bijan Johnson scores a Brotherly Love layup and grabs the rebound off Ahmad’s miss to create momentum.
Two possessions go scoreless before Langston Wilson and Teyvon Myers trade threes. Wilson scores a slow reverse layup, which is matched by Ahmad. Best Virginia now leads 82-56 with 5:00 remaining in the quarter.
Wesley Harris knocks down another three and gets a stop at the other end to regain possession. The media timeout is called, queuing the elimination period, where the target score will be 93 points.
Final Period
Best Virginia, leading 85-56, gets the first bucket of the final period in the form of a Wesley Harris three. It is matched by Sam Akano on the other end.
Harris makes another shot to put Best Virginia three points from its target. Lucious Jones makes a three, which Holton tries three times to match and end the game but comes short. James Stanback knocks down Brotherly Love’s third three of the period as Myers shoots another Best Virginia miss.
Langston Wilson throws down a windmill dunk, followed by two bad Best Virginia misses from long range along with a Sam Akano miss that goes behind the backboard off the rim.
Holton puts Best Virginia one point from its target. Sam Akano matches him with a layup before Holton makes the final bucket of the game.
Best Virginia wins 94-69.
