Carmen's Crew upset in first round of TBT (original) (raw)

The run has come to an end before it even started.

The defending champs and No. 1 overall seed of The Basketball Tournament, Carmen’s Crew, got knocked off by No. 16 seed House of Paign 76-68 Wednesday. The Ohio State alumni team had been one of the prohibitive favorites to win it all again, but a slow start and an injury to point guard Aaron Craft spelled doom.

Despite ending the first quarter down by four points to the Illinois alumni squad, Carmen’s Crew seemed to find itself after a big run in the second quarter and went into the break up 44-39.

It looked like game was going to be just fine and a product of those first-game wrinkles that got ironed out.

But Craft was injured early in the third quarter after the former OSU players seemed to have their act together. During his absence, House of Paign went on a significant run and regained the lead 66-64. From there, it remained a tight affair, but House of Paign made the plays behind the hot shooting of Mike Daum. The former South Dakota State star who was a part of the team that bowed out to Ohio State in the NCAA Tournament in 2018 led all scorers with 23 points.

For Carmen’s Crew, only two players finished the game in double figures. David Lighty led the team with 21 points; Jon Diebler chipped in 11.

We’ll now see what happens to this team for next year. Will the nucleus remain, or will their be some significant changes?

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