OSU alumni teams to meet in TBT

A national television audience will now get a glimpse of the closed-door battles that have been a staple of Ohio State men’s basketball for years.

After opening-round wins in The Basketball Tournament, two teams featuring former Buckeyes players will square off at 2 p.m. today at Capital University. Top-seeded Carmen’s Crew, the unofficial Ohio State alumni team, will face Big X, featuring three former Buckeyes, after both fended off upset challenges.

The matchup will be without one expected major contributor, however. Jae’sean Tate, who was slated to play for Big X, instead received an invitation to an NBA camp with the Oklahoma City Thunder and will miss the tournament.

Carmen’s Crew capped the night with a relatively easy 88-71 win over Illinois BC. The game began roughly 20 minutes after Big X fended off a challenge from the West Virginia Wildcats with an 83-76 win. Illinois BC pulled within a point with 1:18 remaining in the first quarter, but Carmen’s Crew closed with authority.

First, Laquinton Ross blew past a defender for an acrobatic finish at the rim. Then Jon Diebler drew a foul on the defensive end and made two free throws, pushing it to 21-16 lead. And when Illinois BC missed an attempt in the final seconds, David Lighty pushed it up court and made a three-pointer from straight on as time expired while being fouled. He hit the free throw, setting the lead at 25-16 and capping an 8-0 run.

Lighty led Carmen’s Crew with 17 points and William Buford finished with 16, including the clinching basket on a goaltending call.

Behind a 22-point outburst from starter C.J. Jackson and 17 points from Keyshawn Woods, Big X overcame a 15-2 deficit to open the game to eventually pull away against West Virginia. It marked the coaching debut for Andrew Dakich, who jokingly said as he walked off the court that he was going to retire with a perfect record.

By the end of the first quarter, Big X had trimmed its deficit to 22-21, and it took the lead with 7:14 left in the second on a Jackson three-pointer that made it 26-24. When Woods capped a personal eight-point scoring run with a three-pointer with 4:57 left in the second, it was a 36-26 lead after a 29-9 run, during which Woods had 11 points and Jackson added five.