Always a Brave team in FINAL FOUR of The Basketball Tournament

[Da Coach]

....Too bad POB isn't in a little better shape or we would dominate.

That was the only downside point I have seen in the games so far. If POB could play even half as hard as Cellus, Always a Brave would be unbeatable.

[tornado]

I'd rather know where the Marquette team is eating before the game. I could buy them a round of drinks...or maybe two rounds...

maybe some orange juice delivered to their hotel rooms?

[Chico]

maybe some orange juice delivered to their hotel rooms?

Don't think there is as much gambling on this game as there was back then.

[Da Coach]

The first quarterfinal game today (Sat. 7/23) is on ESPN2- It is an extremely close game between #3 seed The Untouchables (mostly Pitt alums) vs. the only #1 seed left City of Gods.
With under a minute left in the game, City of Gods leads 80-79.

Games 2 & 3 will be on ESPNU at 1:00 and 5:00 Central, then Game 4 featuring Always a Brave vs. Golden Eagles Alumni will be on ESPN2 at 7 PM.

[Da Coach]

Final in Quarterfinal Game 1- Xavier Silas nailed a corner three with 14.5 seconds left to put City of Gods up 83-79, and they held on for the win. There was some controversy in the final seconds when a City of Gods player slammed the ball down on the court and it bounced to the ceiling just as it appeared they locked up the win. The officials did call a technical foul which would have given The Untouchables a chance, but they missed both technical foul shots. Several more FTs by City of Gods, and they held on for the 86-79 win.
Nice to see the thugs from Pitt get eliminated again, just like on March 19, 2006.

Box score:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/138620512@N04/28463952426/

City of Gods appears to be well coached, unselfish, and good shooters. They are a very good team and will be hard to beat.


Quarterfinal Game 2 is just about to start on ESPNU- #8 seed Trained to Go vs. #2 seed Overseas Elite in the Championship of the South regional bracket.

[Da Coach]

I am watching the 2nd quarterfinal game between Trained to Go vs. Overseas Elite. It's another great game and fun to watch. Overseas Elite leads 62-60 with 4 minutes left.

I watched a bunch of TBT games last weekend and every game this weekend. But one thing occurred to me as I was watching- has anyone noticed the referees? Not really. These are mostly D1 college referees, and yet they have let the teams play, called the calls that needed to be called, and have not tried to overdo it or take over the game. Despite most of these games being just as physical or more so than college games, they are a lot more enjoyable to watch because there are not quite so many whistles.
I'd like to see Division I games called more like this.

[Da Coach]

#2 Overseas Elite hung on for the 74-66 win over #8 Trained to Go.
Overseas Elite is the champion of the South Regional and advance to a semifinal matchup against the Northeast champion City of Gods, the same 2 teams that met last year in one semifinal game.

The next game is at 5:00 PM Central between #5 seed Team Colorado vs. #7 seed Team Utah for the championship of the West Region.

[LongTimeFan]

For my two cents on attendance, I am more concerned with increasing attendance in the future than worrying about who was responsible for the past attendance. However, maybe it is just me.

However, with everything going on these days that demand teenager participation and parent support, I think most would be happy with over 8,000 in average attendance. However, if Bradley gets back to the very top of the conference, we might average more. I do believe that 10,000 average is not possible.

I want Bradley to get back to challenging for the top every year but I realize it make several years to consistently challenge for the top of the valley.

[Da Coach]

The 3rd Quarterfinal game is over-
#7 Team Utah 78
#5 Team Colorado 83

Team Colorado is the champion of the West region.
The Always a Brave-Golden Eagles Alumni game will start in about 15 minutes on ESPN2.

If the Braves can win tonight's game, they will advance to the Final 4, and play Team Colorado next Saturday in New York City. But this Marquette Alumni team is very good.

[Da Coach]

Nice article from WAND-TV an NBC TV station in Decatur-

http://www.wandtv.com/story/32512305/bradley-alumni-recapture-tournament-magic-in-2-million-tournament

[tornado]

Dan Dakich - I love it...
a brutally honest assessment of the Bradley President ignorantly firing Jim Les and "ruining the program ever since"... LOL!!!!!

[Da Coach]

Sammy! What a play by Maniscalco! They are playing great even with Sommerville contributing very little so far.

[tornado]

POB for three!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!

[tornado]

This Marquette team is a very good team so the Braves are doing well but need to sustain it!

[Da Coach]

The Braves built a 36-23 lead, then the Golden Eagles went on a 19-3 run to take the lead at halftime 42-39. The Braves look tired and Marcellus has only 3 points on free throws. The Golden Eagles run coincided with the Braves decision to switch to a zone defense, which gave the Marquette alums a ton of open shots.