On Saturday at UD Arena, a different Smith cousin from the Bronx, N.Y., Tyshawn Praylow, had the honor of putting the placard on the large bracket located just off Tom Blackburn Court. Smith and his cousin then gathered in a huddle with the rest of the members of the Dayton Flyers alumni team as they celebrated an 88-74 victory against DaGuys STL in the first round of the TBT.
Playing in his third TBT, the former UD point guard Smith tallied 11 points, four assists and five rebounds. He made the game-clinching Elam Ending shot, a 3-pointer.
The No 2 seed Red Scare took an 80-60 lead into the Elam Ending. That meant the first team to reach the target score of 88 would win the game. The No. 3 seed DaGuys STL, a team made up of players from St. Louis, then started an 11-2 run to make the Red Scare sweat just a bit.
“We were trying to put them away,” Smith said. “I think we were overthinking the game a little bit.”
The Red Scare’s lead proved to be too much for the St. Louis team to overcome. The UD alums improved to 5-1 in first-round TBT games. At 8 p.m. Monday, for the first time since their first TBT appearance in 2019, the Red Scare will play the Ohio State alumni team, Carmen’s Crew.
No. 3 seed Carmen’s Crew dominated its first opponent, No. 6 Purple Hearts, winning 93-58. Former Buckeyes Andre Wesson and Kaleb Wesson each scored 12 points. Jared Sullinger scored nine points. He’s playing in the TBT for the first time since 2018 after coaching the team in recent years.
Five years ago, at Capital University in Bexley, Carmen’s Crew beat Red Scare 85-71 in the third round and then won three more games to win the championship. None of the Buckeyes who played for that Carmen’s Crew team remain on the roster in 2024. Darrell Davis is the only Flyer on the Red Scare roster this year who played in that tournament.
The Red Scare couldn’t look ahead to a possible matchup with Carmen’s Crew on Saturday because of what happened to them last year when they were upset at UD Arena by India Rising in the first round. That’s why relief was one of the dominant emotions after the victory against DaGuys STL.
“Last year, we fell short early,” Davis said. “We didn’t want to have the same result. We knew DaGuys could potentially knock out anybody.”
DaGuys STL faced an early 19-8 deficit but took the lead with a 13-0 run. Midway through the second quarter, the Red Scare faced a 35-31 deficit. Then a 3-pointer by Wesley Clark, a former Buffalo and Missouri guard who won a TBT title with Blue Collar U in 2022, started a 24-0 Red Scare run.
Davis made 4 of 8 3-pointers in the game and made three of those 3-pointers during the 24-0 run. The Red Scare scored the first 19 points in the final 5 minutes, 34 seconds of the first half and then opened the second half with four straight points. They owned a double-digit lead the rest of the way.
The Red Scare’s defense played as big a part in the run as its offense. DaGuys STL missed 11 straight shots and committed five turnovers during the stretch.
“We got stops,” Red Scare forward Ryan Mikesell said. “Ultimately, that’s what it comes down to, your ability to get stops and take advantage on the other end. They were making some tough shots in the first quarter. We played some really good defense, but good offense beats good defense most of the time. We just knew over the course of the game that we could wear them down and contest their shots. Toward the end of the first half, we were able to make that big run. Credit to the guys. We stuck with our game plan and were able to open it up a little bit.”
The Red Scare made 14 of 31 3-pointers (45.2%), while DaGuys STL made 8 of 34 (23.5%).
Mikesell and Clark each scored 16 to lead Red Scare. Former Virginia Commonwealth and Texas Tech forward Marcus Santos-Silva scored 14 points and made the first two baskets in the Elam Ending. Davis scored 13 points.
Josh Cunningham, playing in the TBT for the first time since 2022, and Cleveland Melvin, a former DePaul forward making his Red Scare debut, each had nine points.
The Red Scare had 10 players on the roster but eight at the game. Trey Landers did not practice with the team this week and opted to not play in the tournament. Grant Basile did practice with the team all week but had a personal obligation on Saturday and will be at the next game.
The Red Scare avoided the fate of two Ohio teams in the Cincinnati Region. The Cincinnati Bearcats alumni team, Nasty Nati, and the Xavier alumni team, Zip ‘Em Up, both lost in the first round Friday. They were the top two seeds in the region.
In the other second-round game Monday at UD Arena, No. 1 seed Heartfire will play No. 4 We Are D3 at 6 p.m.
Heartfire beat Rise & Grind 68-64. We Are D3 won a TBT game for the first time after five first-round defeats, beating Sweet Home Alabama 88-72.
Monday’s winners will play in the Dayton Region final at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
“We’ve just got to play together and rebound the ball and good things will happen,” Red Scare coach Joey Gruden said. “We’ll make shots. I’m not worried about the offense. We just got to rebound and play hard on defense.”
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