Against the Philadelphia-based Brotherly Love Pro Am Foundation, Pittsburgh proved to be just as viable of a home court as Morgantown for WVU alumni team Best Virginia on Saturday.
Playing in the first round of the TBT Pittsburgh Regional, Best Virginia proved it had its eyes on the prize, posting a dominant 94-point performance.
Starters for Best Virginia were Marcus Keene, Tarik Phillip, Wesley Harris, Esa Ahmad, and Devin Williams. The group got off to a hot start against Brotherly Love, pulling ahead to an 11-0 lead thanks to threes from Ahmad, Keene, and Williams along with an offensive rebound turned inside bucket for Ahmad.
Brotherly Love fired back with threes of their own, making two in the first quarter, but momentum never went away for Best Virginia, who led 35-13 at the end of the first.
The second quarter was a lot more contested, with Brotherly Love outscoring the former Mountaineers 20-15, but thanks to a Sagaba Konate three to end the half, the Pro Am Foundation found themselves unable to cut the deficit significantly, causing Best Virginia to lead 50-33 at halftime.
In the second half, though, Best Virginia went right back to making threes and keeping the ball out of Brotherly Love’s hands. Best Virginia led 75-49 at the end of the third and 85-56 entering the elim ending, where the target score was 93.
With the victory all but secured, head coach Chase Harler, in classic TBT fashion, allowed his players to have a little bit of fun. The main beneficiary of Harler’s relaxation was Jonathan Holton, who completed his time at WVU just before Harler’s arrival in 2016.
“There really wasn’t a game plan,” Harler admitted.
“I was looking for John Holton. He went back and got his shoes- Puma shoes for the elim ending,” Harler said. “He came back out with his shoes, and I had to put him in. Yeah, we gave him a lot,” the coach joked.
Despite the cheery, more relaxed attitude after the 94-69 victory, Best Virginia knows that they cannot slack off going forward in the tournament. Things Harler likes about his team include shooting, a defensive effort reminiscent of the “Press Virginia” play style, high level rebounding, and depth.
“We have no liabilities,” Harler said. “Everyone’s professional, everyone brings something different to the table, and I think today we did a pretty good job with subbing.”
The box score echoed that sentiment, as each player contributed five points or more, including the four double-digit scorers. Best Virginia also tallied nine steals between seven players and 23 total assists between eight, 13 of which came from Teyvon Myers, who played 23 minutes off the bench.
In the rebounding column, Best Virginia led 44 to Brotherly Love’s 30, despite having no player above the height of 6-foot-9. That rebounding would be crucial in a round two matchup against Pitt’s Zoo Crew, which boasts three players 6-foot-9 or taller, including the tallest player at the Pittsburgh Regional, 6-foot-11 Dew Cisse from Western Illinois. Top rebounders for Best Virginia on Saturday were Devin Williams, who had eight, and Esa Ahmad, who had seven.
The former Mountaineers will have two days to rest before they move on to the second round on Monday, where they will play the winner of Million $ Worth of Game and the Zoo Crew, which consists primarily of Pitt alumni. The matchup-determining game will take place at 8 p.m. ET and will be streamed on TBT Live.
Photo from The Basketball Tournament
Trackbacks/Pingbacks