CHARLESTON — Kevin Jones’ sendoff from the Charleston Coliseum on Wednesday was a game winner and a wild celebration with teammates and fans.
Best Virginia’s top player had just made maybe one of the most clutch shots of his professional career, this one sending his teammates to Dayton, Ohio for an opportunity to win $1 million in The Basketball Tournament (TBT).
“I don’t know if I’ll say it was acrobatic,” he said later. “It’s a shot I work on all the time, a hook shot. Jermaine (Haley) made a great pass and saw that I had sealed off, so I had to make that play. I was right there.”
Jones ended up on his fanny. The ball ended up going through the rim and Best Virginia downed the Bucketneers 63-62 in front of 1,851 fans.
Best Virginia now advances to play in the quarterfinals at 9 p.m. Friday at the University of Dayton Arena.
Only eight teams remain in TBT, all of them looking for the winner-take-all $1 million prize. Best Virginia is one of those eight.
“It makes it extra special playing with your brothers,” said Jones, who finished with 10 points on 4 of 7 shooting. “The way we brought this together in such a short amount of time, it’s been great. It’s extra special for that reason. I’m excited. I still can’t believe we’re going to Dayton.”
Best Virginia will play Red Scare — an alumni team from the University of Dayton, who will have the home crowd advantage — in the round of eight.
Red Scare beat The Money Team 83-81 in their regional final on Wednesday.
It nearly went sideways for Best Virginia in the final moments.
The game was tied at 55 when Best Virginia coach James Long elected to take a timeout with 3:29 remaining to set the Elam Ending.
The target score for both teams was 63 and both Best Virginia and the Bucketneers — an alumni team from East Tennessee State — needed just eight points to reach it.
The first spark came from Best Virginia, as Jones hit a free throw and Best Virginia took advantage of two Bucketneers’ turnovers that turned into another basket from Jones and a 3-pointer from Jamel Morris.
“In the Elam Ending, the first bucket you see go through is good, but once you see that second one go in, your kind of rolling,” Long said. “You’re halfway there. It’s a different type of momentum.”
The Bucketneers countered with two free throws from T.J. Cromer and a three from Desonta Bradford.
Best Virginia’s lead was just 61-60 when Jermaine Haley was forced into a turnover and the Bucketneers called a timeout needing another 3-pointer to win the game.
Bradford ended up taking an off-balanced 3-point attempt — “To be honest, I thought it was looking good all the way,” Jones said of the shot. — but the shot was well short and teammate Isaac Banks got the tip in to give the Bucketneers a 62-61 lead.
On the next possession, Haley found Jones, who made a quick spin-and-shoot motion to get the ball over Bradford. As Jones was falling to the ground, the ball hit off the rim and fell through.
“I was falling down, so I was just hoping I got enough on it,” Jones said. “When I saw it go in, I don’t know, something just came over me. Joy. Relief. Those Elam Endings are no joke.”
Jones picked himself up and ran over to the sideline to face the fans to begin the celebration. He was quickly joined by his teammates, who mobbed around him.
Morris also finished with 10 points for Best Virginia. Jaysean Paige added eight points and 10 rebounds.
Bradford had 22 points to lead the Bucketneers and Cromer added 16.
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