Eric Devendorf, one of six Syracuse Orange alums on the roster, lugged it out of the press conference. That was no easy feat. The trophy has heft.
The bigger TBT prize, of course, is the $1 million distributed among the winning teams. The 10 players on Boeheim’s Army, which won its first title 69-67 on Tuesday against Team 23 at UD Arena, each received $80,000, money that was transferred to them minutes after the game with the Zelle app. The two coaches and general managers split the remaining $200,000.
The amount of the shares was decided before the tournament. Otherwise the star of the championship game, Keifer Sykes, could have argued for a bigger piece of the prize. He scored 21 points on 7-of-11 shooting and made the game-ending 3-pointer during the Elam Ending.
Team 23 missed two shots that would have won the game on previous possessions. The first team to reach 69 would win the game.
“I’m just thinking, ‘Man, we’ve got to get a 3 because if they score two points, it’s over,” Sykes said. “At first, we were like, ‘We don’t need a 3.’ It was 66-65. But I was already still going for the 3. But the last play, we just ran a play called Deuce Choice. They knew it was coming, so he was waiting on the screen. I saw him looking over his shoulder. He got distracted. I wanted it, so I took the shot. I got my feet under me, a good left-right gather, going to my right hand. It’s a shot I’ve practiced all my life.”
The winning shot by Keifer Sykes (@ksykesyb), who played for @gbphoenixmbb and ranks as one of the @HorizonLeague's all-time greats, in @thetournament. Boeheim's Army beat Team 23 69-67. pic.twitter.com/PB7aKkX4T9
— David Jablonski (@DavidPJablonski) August 4, 2021
Sykes, a 2,096-point scorer at Green Bay from 2011-15, ranks second in Horizon League history in scoring. He agreed to a contract with the Indiana Pacers after the game and will join them in the NBA Summer League. Sykes, 27, has played in Korea, Turkey, Italy, China, Greece and Australia but has never reached the NBA.
Boeheim’s Army won its first championship in its seventh appearance in the tournament. It is the fourth alumni team to win the title but wouldn’t have won if not for the former Green Bay star, who ranked third on the team with 10.0 points per game, and former Boston College star Tyrese Rice, who led the team with 14.3 points per game.
“We had to bring in some killers to seal the deal,” said Devendorf, who scored 1,680 points in his Syracuse career (2005-09), “and it worked out for sure.”
The run by Boeheim’s Army, which included three victories in four days at UD Arena, brought numerous Orange fans to Dayton and the biggest Syracuse name of all on Tuesday: Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, who sat on press row with his wife Juli.
“I knew he was going to come,” Devendorf said. “That’s family. Syracuse is family.”
Eric Griffin led Team 23 with 16 points. Former Miami RedHawks guard Eric Washington added 10.
Washington made 2 of 2 free throws to give his team a 67-66 lead during the Elam Ending, and Team 23 had two shots after that to win the game. Boeheim’s Army also missed two 3-pointers that would have won the game before Sykes connected.
The championship was the fifth for DJ Kennedy, a 1,504-point scorer at St. John’s. He won four titles with Overseas Elite.
“I can’t believe it,” said Kennedy, who scored 11 points Tuesday. “I don’t think people realize how hard it is. I’m just happy that we were able to get it done.”
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