TBT: Golden Eagles and Sideline Cancer Advance to Finals to Play for $1 Million
The semifinals of The Basketball Tournament lived up to the hype as both games came down to the wire and the Elam Ending determined the results.
The No. 4 seeded Golden Eagles, a team primarily made up of Marquette alumni, defeated the No. 8 Red Scare, a team comprised of mostly Dayton alumni 79-70 to clinch a bid to the TBT Finals. No. 22 Sideline Cancer needed a game-winning three pointer to pull off yet another upset win, this time over No. 2 Overseas Elite 67-65.
The final will be on ESPN on Tuesday at 7 p.m. EST for the $1 million-plus jackpot in the winner-take-all tournament.
Game 1: No. 4 Golden Eagles vs. No. 8 Red Scare
The Golden Eagles and the Red Scare met head on and provided an exciting game one of the TBT semifinals. Jamil Wilson paced the Golden Eagles with 23 points as they were able to pull away in the Elam Ending to secure a spot in the finals Tuesday night.
JAMIL WILSON SENDS THE GOLDEN EAGLES TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME!!!!!!!!@GoldenEaglesTBT pic.twitter.com/xtvMaTSf5J
— TBT (@thetournament) July 12, 2020
This marks back-to-back finals appearances for the Golden Eagles TBT team, as they lost in the championship game last year.
"It's going to take toughness that Marquette's built on," the Golden Eagles' Dwight Buycks said. "Every player on this team knows exactly their role and they know how tough to play."
Game 2: No. 2 Overseas Elite vs. No. 22 Sideline Cancer
The Cinderella of the tournament, Sideline Cancer, pulled off more magic as they sunk the four-time TBT champions Overseas Elite on a game-winning three pointer by former Indiana Hoosier (2010-13) Mo Creek.
🚨 DOWN GOES OVERSEAS ELITE 🚨@SidelineTBT upsets the four-time TBT champs to advance to the championship game! pic.twitter.com/1jX8XDUaL6
— ESPN (@espn) July 12, 2020
The suspenseful ending of the game came down to the Elam Ending with the target score being 67. Overseas Elite held a 65-64 lead just before Creek, who finished with 10 points, buried the dagger to give Sideline Cancer a TBT Finals berth.
Marcus Keene led all scorers with 22 points and he shined in the second half scoring 16 of those points. Remy Abell, another former IU Hoosier, added 14 points, as well.
