A special event took place Tuesday night at Walsh Gymnasium on the campus of Seton Hall University. The Basketball Tournament, the annual summer basketball tourney, made its way to South Orange as the Seton Hall Alumni team (Hall In) and Syracuse Alumni (Boeheim’s Army) faced off in the opener of their best-of-three series in the First Round of TBT action.
A hot-shooting Boeheim’s Army took down Hall, 82-52, in Game 1 of a best-of-three series.
Hall In entered the game at a disadvantage because star guard Isiah Whitehead (Seton Hall 2014-2016) was out after injuring his wrist during practice. His absence was felt early as Hall In struggled to find a rhythm offensively against Boeheim’s Army, the winningest alumni team in TBT (27-19). Kaodirichi Akobundu-Ehiogu dominated early in the paint, picking up a couple of easy baskets to help Boeheim’s Army build a six-point first-quarter lead. Akobundu-Ehiogu is not an alumnus of Syracuse, but under the TBT’s new transfer portal rules, which allow teams to feature up to four non-alumni players or “Portal Players,” he was able to play with the team.
The second quarter was much of the same, as the only player on Hall In who was making shots was Terry Roberts, who finished with 14 points in the opening half. Roberts, the former Long Island Net, was one of Hall In’s portal players, and he tried to keep the game close, nailing four three-pointers in the first half. Aside from Roberts’ 5-of-8 shooting, the rest of the team went 6-of-23 as Hall In faced a 44-29 deficit in front of a home crowd at Walsh. The absence of both Whitehead and Myles Cale, who did not play in the opener, was evident early and often.
The second half started slowly as both teams struggled to shoot from the field. For Seton Hall, the offensive strategy was to drive and kick it inside to Romaro Gill (Seton Hall 2018-2020), who was and still is a defensive stalwart and stellar rebounder, but that strategy did not work. Down 51-33, Hall attempted to cut into the lead, picking up two quick baskets and getting two big defensive stops as the Seton Hall alums looked to get the crowd back into the game. Unfortunately, Cole Swider’s (Syracuse 2021-2022) three-pointer ended that quick burst, and Hall faced a 61-41 deficit entering the fourth quarter.
The cool thing about the TBT is how it ends games. Games move into the fourth quarter as normal, but at the final dead ball at the under-four-minute mark, the game clock is shut off, and eight points are added to the leading team’s total. That new number is the target score that must be hit or exceeded to win the game, and it is called the “Elam Ending”. In TBT history, this ending has produced some exciting basketball as both teams have frantically gone for the target score. Unfortunately for Hall In, the 74-45 deficit made the outcome obvious, as the target score was 82. Boeheim’s Army finished the job with a 30-point road victory.
Roberts led Hall In with 19 points, while Ant Nelson (Seton Hall 2018-2020) finished with 11 points. KC Ndefo, a member of Saint PPeter’sElite Eight team and a Seton Hall forward, grabbed 10 rebounds.
Swider finished with 28 points for BBoeheim’sArmy, and Akobundu-Ehiogu added 17 points and 11 rebounds in the blowout win.
What’s Next For Seton Hall’s Hall In Squad
Game 2 of the best-of-three series takes place Thursday night in Syracuse, as Hall In will look to force a deciding Game 3. Game time is 7 p.m., and the action can be seen on FS1.
