Zoo Crew Falls in TBT First Round

The Zoo Crew, representing the Pitt Panthers, fell in the first round of the TBT to Herd That.

PITTSBURGH -- As the former Pitt Panthers battled a group of Marshall alumni on the floor in the first round of The Basketball Tournament, their successors on the current Pitt team gave them a boost of energy as a temporary student section along the baseline. 

But for as hard as the Zoo Crew, a group of Pitt alumni competing for the $1 million prize at the end of the TBT, fell well short. They lost 86-71 to Herd That, a group of Marshall and Conference USA alumni in the event's opening round at the Wheeling, West Virginia Regional. 

Herd That opened on a 13-0 run as Zoo Crew came up empty on their first seven possessions. They took Zoo Crew misses and turnovers and were off to the races, scoring five points off turnovers and six points in transition. 

Sam Young got the Zoo Crew on the board with 5:52 left in the first quarter by pump-faking and driving to draw a foul to set up a pair of free throws. Off a couple more free throws from Young, the Zoo Crew earned another two points, but stopping Herd That continued to be a struggle, as the home team led by as many as 14 with 4:44 to go in the opening period. 

As Jon Elmore scooped home an off-handed layup with time expiring in the first quarter, he and the current Pitt team, which was sitting along the baseline, exchanged some words, a continuation of the increasingly chippy first nine minutes. 

But the Zoo Crew responded, scoring the first two buckets of the second quarter to pull within single digits at 24-15 with 7:28 to play. They continued to feed Herd That their own medicine, turning missed shots into quick opportunities on the other end. The Zoo Crew chipped away thanks to three straight buckets from Young and trailed by just nine with 4:13 to go until halftime. 

Josh Newkirk hit the Zoo Crew's first 3-pointer of the night less than a minute later to pull his team within two possessions at 26-32. 

Rob Gray hit a pair of triples to help push the gap back to double-digits in favor of Herd That, but Levance Fields' fought through contact for a left-handed layup brought it back to seven at 43-36 as halftime arrived. 

Herd That came out of the halftime break hot, nailing six of their first 10 shots in the third quarter to break open a 16-point lead with 3:58 to play in the third quarter. But an 8-0 burst, sparked by some different defensive looks by the Zoo Crew and four points from Jamel Artis, trimmed the deficit to just eight with less than two minutes to play before the fourth quarter. 

A back-breaking triple from Gray pushed the lead back to double-digits but Fields, taking advantage of the bonus, drew a foul on Elmore and knocked down a pair of free throws to keep it a single-digit lead for Herd That at 63-56. 

Artis found another gear to help The Zoo Crew chip away even further. He score a layup at the 7:23 mark, then knocked down a jumper a minute later and, 21 seconds after that, nailed a pull-up 3-pointer to ignite the Pitt contingent in attendance. 

But Herd That silenced their opponents with a 9-2 run that pushed the lead back north of 10 at 78-69 as the time for an ELAM ending arrived. With 4:07 left in the fourth quarter, Herd That needed just eight more points to survive and advance. 

Elmore knocked down a triple to open the ELAM period and Gray scored the final five points on a layup and three free throws. Eliott committed the foul on his 3-point attempt to seal the 86-71 loss. 

Young and Artis carried the scoring load for the Zoo Crew with 20 and 21 points, respectively, and combined for 11 rebounds. As a team, they made just three of 13 3-point attempts. 

Meanwhile, four Herd That players scored in double-figures, led by Gray with 22 points on 9-13 shooting. Elmore made a couple of massive triples and the team assisted on 21 of 32 field goals while scoring 48 of their 86 points in the paint and 19 off of 14 Zoo Crew turnovers. 

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