'Carmen's Crew' wins TBT semifinal to advance to championship game

It’s beginning to feel like 2019 all over again.

The Ohio State alumni team known as ‘Carmen’s Crew’ just keeps on springing upset after upset in “The Basketball Tournament” to where it only needs to pull off one more to be crowned champions.

First, it knocked off No. 2 seed ‘Red Scare’ in its own gym, a Dayton alumni team, then took out defending champ and No. 1 seed ‘Heartfire’ in the round of sixteen to make it to the quarterfinals. Not done yet, the crew then walloped ‘Takeover BC; before taking care of business Friday night again with a 76-70 win over the Kentucky alumi team ‘My Familia’ in Philadelphia.

Carmen’s Crew led for almost the entire game and had to absorb a valiant comeback effort by the former Wildcats, doing just enough to hold things off and punch a ticket to the championship game.

The former Buckeye squad came out of the gate playing well and took a 14-10 lead into the second quarter. Carmen’s Crew began to assert itself in the second quarter and pushed things out 40-27 halftime lead.

La Familia kept things from getting out of hand and began to play better, trailing 57-48 heading into the fourth quarter, and that’s when things began to tighten up. The mostly Ohio State alums led by just four points, 68-64, when the Elam Ending kicked in, setting the target score at 76.

After some back and forth, Carmen’s Crew led 73-70 when Jamel Morris nailed a deep 3-pointer from the top of the key to seal the deal.

Carmen’s Crew will play for its second TBT title when it takes on ‘Forever Coogs’, a Houston alumni squad, on Sunday.

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