Syracuse Basketball: TBT title preview; Boeheim’s Army, Brotherly Love

Boeheim’s Army of Syracuse basketball alum will face Brotherly Love in TBT Syracuse championship regional. Here are the full details.

For the fifth straight year Boeheim’s Army, a crew of Syracuse basketball alumni, have made it to the regional championship.

The latest accomplishment means more than any of the previous years because for the first time in TBT history this game will be hosted in Syracuse at Onondaga Community College at the SRC Arena.

Although this squad almost didn’t make it here.

In the opening round vs We Are D3, the game came down to the bitter Elam’s End. Fortunately, a clutch free throw from Jordan Crawford helped the team escape with the victory.

In the next round, things came a bit easier vs Gael Nation.

The highlights came in the third quarter when Boeheim’s Army extended their lead and got major contributions from Eric Devendorf, Andrew White III, BJ Johnson, and Darryl Watkins.

Devo hit the game-winning shot even with a bloody eye and all to advance his squad to the title game.

Many people assumed Boeheim’s Army would face the heavily favored No. 2 seed Armored Athlete, but that won’t happen on Sunday. Instead, they’ll face the No. 3 seed of this Syracuse regional: Brotherly Love.

Who are they?

The squad doesn’t identify as an alumni squad of any one particular Unversity, as a matter of fact, this roster is comprised of 14 players (per TBT website) that come from seven different colleges.

There aren’t any huge names on this squad, but this team made it to the Super 16 last year with this core of players.

Here are some areas of weakness:

• Free throws
  • Brotherly Love only made 55.6 percent of its free throws in the second round of the tournament. That’s around the same number they shot in the opening round vs Playing for Jimmy V (56.3 percent).
    • While conversely, Boeheim’s Army has made its trips to the charity stripe count throughout the Syracuse regional:
      • Round 1: 82.6 percent.
      • Round 2: 80 percent.
    • Size
      • Boeheim’s Army will have a size advantage against almost every team they face in TBT during this 2019 run.
      • Brotherly Love only has one player above 6-foot-8.
      • Despite the size disadvantage, Brotherly Love has outrebounded its first two opponents overall in this tournament.

      There is one huge thing Boeheim’s Army will have to keep their eyes peeled for: deep shooting early and often from everywhere.

      • Round 1: 52.9 percent from long range.
      • Round 2: 48 percent from deep.

      Three players have scored double digits in every round of TBT so far for Brotherly Love:

      • Samme Givens (19 points per game).
      • Novar Gadson (18.5 points per game).
      • Frantz Massenat (17.5 points per contest).

      While this is still a winner-take-all tournament for the $2 million prize, there is an additional incentive for Boeheim’s Army to win the Syracuse regional: cash money.

      "“For the first time in The Basketball Tournament’s history, the event is providing a cash prize to the winners of each region.The cash prize is equal to 25 percent of the ticket sales in each region, so Boeheim’s Army stands to benefit from the excitement Syracuse basketball fans have shown for the event.The Syracuse Region’s ticket sales rank second out of eight locations, lagging behind only Wichita.As of Saturday night, the winning team’s cash prize was anticipated to be $27,715,” per Chris Carlson of Syracuse.com."

      This Syracuse regional title game is at 2:00 p.m. You can watch live, tickets are running out, for Onondaga Community College at the SRC Arena. Or watch nationally on ESPN.