No. 4 Herd That Knocks Off No. 1 Best Virginia 74-61 in TBT

WHEELING, W.Va. — In the second round of the TBT tournament, No. 4 Herd That knocked off No. 1 Best Virginia 74-61 on Thursday night.

Entering the fourth quarter, Herd That trailed by one point. A field goal drought by Best Virginia gave the Marshall-based alumni a 10-point lead with six minutes to go.

Former Marshall guard Jon Elmore hit a pull-up three early in the fourth quarter to give Herd That’s long-awaited lead.

With four minutes to go, the game went into the Elam Ending. This is the rule that TBT uses to end games and avoid late fouling. The leading team’s points plus eight is the target score to end the game. The target score was set to 72 points.

In the middle of the third quarter, both players from Best Virginia and Herd That needed to be separated after getting into each other’s face. As a result, Herd That’s JaCorey Williams was tossed and Erik Stevenson was charged a technical.

Ex-Fairmront State guard Jamel Morris laid the ball in at the end of the half. Morris finished with 13 points on 4-of-15 shooting.

Best Virginia struggled overall, shooting 18-of-54 from the field and committing 19 turnovers.

The current West Virginia basketball team was in attendance included RaeQuan Battle, Jeremiah Bembry, Josiah Harris, Kobe Johnson, Quinn Slazinski, Patrick Suemnick and Seth Wilson. WVU interim head coach Josh Eilert as well as assistants DerMarr Johnson, Da’Sean Butler and Alex Ruoff were also in attendance.

Former WVU head coach Bob Huggins made his appearance in Wheeling for the second-straight game to support his players. Boston Celtics head coach and former guard Joe Mazzulla was with Huggins.

Best Virginia is 7-4 all-time in their TBT history, dating back to 2019.

Wheeling is one of TBT’s eight regional locations this summer. Eight teams will compete in the West Virginia Regional over the course of five days in July in the single-elimination event, with the West Virginia Regional champion advancing to the quarterfinals.

The Basketball Tournament is a 64-team field, which the winning team takes home $1 million.

Herd That will play the winner of Sideline Cancer and Challenge ALS: Florida on Saturday.