Boeheim's Army Holds Off The Nerd Team, Advances in TBT

They suffered some minor casualties along the way, but Boeheim’s Army advanced in the second round of The Basketball Tournament on Wednesday night, getting an 83-75 win over The Nerd Team. The victory was a measure of revenge for the Army, as they were eliminated in last summer’s TBT second round by the same opponent.

B.J. Johnson left the game in the second quarter with a left calf issue an did not return. Dwight Buycks, Jr. and Deandre Kane both departed the floor in the third quarter, but Kane did return for the Elam Ending portion of the contest.

Grant Riller led the way for the Army, posting a game-high 27 points, including 17 in the first half on 8-of-11 shooting and the final foul shot to end the game. Justin Robinson added a dozen points, five coming in the final quarter and Johnson had ten points, all in the first quarter.

The Nerd Team trailed after one period, but rallied to take a second quarter lead. Boeheim’s Army closed the first half with a 17-1 run in the final four minutes of the second quarter to turn a two-point deficit into a 46-32 halftime lead.

The Nerd Team cut into the gap as soon as the second half started, getting the margin down to 57-51 with under two minutes left in the third, but the Army righted their ship and held an eight-point lead headed to the fourth. The Army pushed the lead out to 72-58 with an 8-2 run, but The Nerd Team responded with nine straight to tighten things up just before the Elam Ending.

Boeheim’s Army will return to action on Friday night when they take on the defending champions, Blue Collar U. Tip-off will be at 9:00pm Eastern and the contest will be streamed on ESPN+.

While Boeheim’s Army was able to get everyone into Monday’s game and playing time spread across the roster, that was not the case on Wednesday. With the minor injuries and game situation, court time was uneven, and Grant Riller was credited with over 30 minutes on the floor and Jamil Wilson 29. Justin Robinson was third in floor time at 22:53 and handled the action well, finishing with five assists and three boards to go with 12 points.

While he struggled at the line, Rakeem Christmas was a force inside for the Army. Christmas had eight points (all in the second half), seven rebounds, and two blocks, overwhelming The Nerd Team’s big men mostly through superior size. While not necessarily towering over defenders, Christmas’ upper body is much thicker and is simply too strong for most opponents to handle.

The short time spent together as a group could really hinder Boeheim’s Army on Friday night and beyond, should they advance. Outside of their first half finishing kick, the team struggled to find consistent offense throughout the game, often just getting the ball to Riller and letting him handle things. The Army shot 7-of-10 during the four minutes of that 17-1 second quarter run, then made seven field goals in each of the final two quarters and just 2-of-10 from deep in the second half.

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