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DAYTON, Ohio — Boeheim’s Army rode a 12-4 run, bringing them within two points of the Golden Eagles lead as the shot clock ticked down to zero. Maurice Acker air-balled a 3, crumbling under Boeheim’s Army man-to-man defense.

Seconds later, Malachi Richardson basketed a 3-pointer as the shot clock flashed a large red 2. While looking for a foul call that never came, Richardson’s shot found the net and tied the game.

Then, Tyrese Rice drained two free throws to give Boeheim’s Army its first lead of the game. Despite a 3 from Dwight Buycks, Rice — who scored all but one basket in the Elam Ending — halted the Golden Eagles’ bid at $1 million with a drive on the left side of the paint.

“My confidence (isn’t) ever going to waver in those situations,” Rice said.

In 2018, Boeheim’s Army and the Golden Eagles squared off in Atlanta for the first quarterfinals matchup between the two alumni squads. The teams traded baskets during the Elam Ending, similar to this afternoon, quickly approaching the target score of 90. Then with Boeheim’s Army down one, Travis Diener shifted right after a high ball screen at the top of the key. He found enough separation to bury a 3 and send Syracuse’s alumni team home.

On Saturday with Boeheim’s Army up by one, Diener fired from deep, hoping to replicate the same magic from the squads’ previous matchup. Instead, he missed, and an off-ball foul led to Boeheim’s Army coming within one possession of a semifinal berth.

After Rice’s game-winning shot, Eric Devendorf embraced Rice on the baseline. Then he looked out to DeAndre Kane, standing alone at the top of the key. They pointed at one another, jumped and collided with excitement.

“Seven years doing this, (winning is) the ultimate goal,” Devendorf said before Saturday’s game. “You can have all the stats, score all the points, but if you don’t win, it doesn’t even matter.”

But the late success wasn’t apparent in the first half as Boeheim’s Army struggled from deep. Out of halftime, Boeheim’s Army shot 3-for-8 from behind the arc. In Boeheim’s Army’s final possession of the first quarter, Devendorf collected a pass at half court from Keifer Sykes. He looked up, charting a path to the basket. Instead, he found enough separation between his defender, pulled up and nailed Boeheim’s Army’s only 3 of the opening nine minutes. It was the only 3 Boeheim’s Army would make in the first half, the next coming nearly two minutes into the third quarter from Rice.

The long-range attempts continued to fall flat. Minutes into the second quarter, Tyler Lydon muscled through Golden Eagles’ players in the paint to come down for a rebound. Another missed attempt from beyond the arc from Devendorf allowed Lydon to tip the ball out, leading to another missed 3.

“I’ve been preaching high-quality looks from the day I arrived,” head coach Jeremy Pope said. “I just felt as long as we did that, I’ll live with make or miss.”

While Boeheim’s Army struggled to succeed on open looks throughout the first half, the Golden Eagles’ Buycks hit from deep less than two minutes into the game. His make was a part of a string of shots that led Boeheim’s Army to fall into a 15-8 deficit halfway through the first quarter.

Chris McCullough was Boeheim’s Army’s second-highest scorer with 14 points in the team’s quarterfinals win over the Golden Eagles. Courtesy of Ben Solomon

Specifically, BA’s defense was unable to stop shots from inside the arc, as the Golden Eagles began 4-for-4 from the field. On two straight possessions, Elgin Cook crossed around Richardson for an easy layup. Then Acker nailed a catch-and-shoot two to extend the lead to seven.

The Golden Eagles finished the first quarter 6-of-8 on 2-pointers, shying away from the 3-point shots the reigning TBT champions are known for. At the end of the first half, they were shooting 50% from both inside and outside the arc.

“It was a chess match. They took the lead early, sat in the zone, tried to stall us out, which I agree with,” Pope said of the No. 1 seed.

Late in the second quarter, Kane settled into the far right corner behind the 3-point arc to try and answer back to the offensive onslaught from the opposition. His defender gave him enough space, not falling for Kane’s numerous jab steps and threats to drive to the hoop. Eventually, Kane found enough space for a shot without a Golden Eagles hand in his face, but he came up short, with the ball softly thudding off the edge of the rim to keep Boeheim’s Army’s deficit at seven going into halftime.

Still, Rice continued to shoot from deep in the third quarter despite the team’s earlier struggles. At the beginning of the period, D.J. Kennedy found Rice open on the left side, where he calmly pulled up and drained the team’s second 3 of the game. On the next possession, Kennedy found Rice once again. This time, the guard nailed a 3 from the right side to bring Boeheim’s Army within three points.

“I think (the shots) serve as a boost that lets everybody in the arena know we’re still here,” Rice said. “It changed the trajectory of the game for us.”

The Golden Eagles entered the game averaging the fifth-most points per game, typically relying on 3-pointers. But first-year head coach Pope moved away from the infamous 2-3 zone Syracuse teams are known for, opting instead for a man-to-man. Boeheim’s Army allowed just 169 points through three games; only the Bucketneers allowed fewer points.

After a Chris McCullough layup in the third quarter, Boeheim’s Army trailed by one, eying their first lead of the game. Then Diener fired a 3, fell down and watched as it swished through the basket. It was the start of a 10-point run that gave the Golden Eagles the cushion they grew accustomed to Saturday afternoon.

A minute later, Diener missed a long two, but the Golden Eagles poked the ball back to the 3-point line, and he buried a 3. In transition, Cook stole the ball away from Devendorf, working his way down to the Golden Eagles’ basket for a one-handed dunk to extend their lead to 11.

But Pope knows there are ebbs and flows to a basketball game. As Richardson said prior to the game: some shots fall, and others don’t. That’s what drives the runs in basketball — like the 10 straight points for the Golden Eagles, or an 11-2 takeover to put Boeheim’s Army in control for the first time on Saturday.

“I always felt that we were knocking though,” Pope said. “We just finally needed to break.”

Published on July 31, 2021 at 4:15 pm

Contact Anthony: [email protected] | @anthonyalandt