Carmen's Crew beats Red Scare as Ohio State alumni take down Dayton counterparts in TBT

If Carmen's Crew wants to earn its first The Basketball Tournament title since 2019, it's following a familiar path.

In a rematch of a 2019 TBT game between the Ohio State and Dayton alumni teams, the Buckeyes again came out on top. Five years ago, the game was played The Capital Center as a de facto home game for the Ohio State team, and the home fans enjoyed an 85-71 win.

This time, it was at Dayton’s UD Arena. The outcome was the same. Monday night, Carmen's Crew took a 61-53 lead into the Elam Ending, needing to hit 69 points for the win. It got there on an Andre Wesson 3-pointer, defeating the Red Scare 71-60 in a second-round game.

With the win, the official Ohio State alumni team will face No. 1 seed and reigning champion Heartfire on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The game will be televised by FS2.

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After leading for the majority of a game that could politely be described as a slog for long stretches, Carmen’s Crew finally created some breathing room in the final minutes of the third quarter. Ahead 32-27 at the break, Carmen’s Crew scored first and pushed its lead to seven points only to go scoreless for more than five minutes from there.

Meanwhile, Red Scare could do little better. The team of Dayton alumni was only able to scratch out seven points, briefly tying the game at 34 with about three minutes left in the quarter and starting a mini-run of baskets on each side. But with the score tied at 36, Thomas hit a 3 to push Carmen’s Crew ahead again, starting a 16-5 run to close the half. It was capped by a dramatic shot from Bowling Green product Scott Thomas who, after another Red Scare 3-point miss, took a pass, jumped from within the Dayton “D” logo at midcourt and banked in a straight-on 3 at the horn.

It gave Carmen’s Crew a comfortable 52-41 lead as the Red Scare went 4 for 24 from 3 to that point. The home team finished 8 for 31 (25.8%) from 3.

Jamel Morris led Carmen's Crew with 17 points. Kyle Young had 10 and was perfect on three 3-pointers.

This year's Carmen's Crew features five former Ohio State players: Jared Sullinger, Andre and Kaleb Wesson, Keyshawn Woods and Young. Sullinger had 8 points and six rebounds, both Wessons had 6 points apiece and Woods did not score.