WHEELING — Jon Elmore’s 3-pointer brought an end to Best Virginia’s run in the TBT on Thursday.
Truth be told, Best Virginia’s lack of shooting sealed its own fate long before Elmore’s shot ripped through the net at Wesbanco Arena to give Herd That a 74-61 victory.
“Guys get anxious and everybody wants to make a play when you’re down,” said Best Virginia forward Kevin Jones, who finished with a double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds. “Guys weren’t hitting shots. We fell into that. The flow of the game didn’t go our way and we just couldn’t hit a shot, man.”
There was no sugarcoating that. Here’s how bad it was: Jones hit a 3-pointer from the corner that gave Best Virginia a 49-41 with 2:12 remaining in the third quarter.
When Best Virginia hit its next basket, the Marshall alumni team had taken a 69-60 lead and was just three points shy of reaching the target score of 72.
The drought lasted more than eight minutes. In that time, Best Virginia missed 17 of its 18 shots, made only one of its 11 3-point attempts and went 7 of 14 from the foul line.
“It sucks having that lead and losing it,” Best Virginia guard Chase Harler said. “We just struggled to score. It really wasn’t our offense, we were getting good looks. It just wasn’t our day.”
The loss came in front of former WVU head coach Bob Huggins, who was in the crowd, as well as Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla, who sat next to Huggins. Former WVU star Deuce McBride — now a member of the New York Knicks — was also in attendance.
WVU interim coach Josh Eilert, as well as members of his coaching staff and WVU players were sitting along the baseline near the Best Virginia bench, too.
It was a grind-it-out game from the start between the two alumni teams representing West Virginia’s two Division I universities.
Neither team looked altogether great. Herd That won after going just 5 of 26 from 3-point range and 13 of 27 from the foul line.
But while Best Virginia finished 1 of 16 from the field in the fourth quarter, Herd That went 10 of 23 when it mattered most.
“Maybe we win ugly or maybe we win nice, we did whatever we had to do to grind out the game,” said Elmore, who finished with 16 points.
The game also got chippy. Best Virginia guard Teyvon Myers got whistled for a technical foul for chirping with Herd That’s bench in the first quarter.
In the third quarter, Herd That’s Jacorey Williams and Best Virginia’s Erik Stevenson got whistled for double technical fouls, as both benches cleared in front of the Best Virginia bench.
No punches were thrown, but it took a few minutes to get both teams back to their bench.
“We kind of forgot the game plan and was fighting the tension battle the whole time,” Best Virginia coach James Long said. “We were worried about a lot of other stuff rather than worrying about what was going on next.”
Long was asked to elaborate on the “stuff.”
“We were worried about (referees’) calls,” Long said. “We were worried about guys who were never going to see the floor chirping. We were giving in to it.
“It kind of turned into a joke there for a while. That’s the type of game they were going to win. In no way is that a discredit to them. They’re good, but the way they play, they want to get you to mess up. Then they capitalize on any mistake you make.”
Herd That led 64-55 and called timeout with 3:47 left in the game to set the Elam Ending score at 72.
Herd That forward Derek Cooke had two baskets on hustle plays in the paint and Rob Gray scored on a drive to the basket for a 71-61 lead.
Elmore’s three finally ended it.
“That was awesome,” Elmore said. “That’s just another play. It’s something I work on every day, coming off screens and shooting those shots. You just hope you can capitalize when you get those moments.”
Herd That got five players in double figures, with James Kelly adding 16 points and nine rebounds.
Jamel Morris added 13 points for Best Virginia.
Herd That advances to Saturday’s regional championship against Sideline Cancer, which defeated Challenge ALS: Florida 60-51.
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