Despite their best efforts, the Broad Street Birds fell short in their first-ever game, losing to the Beale Street Boys 73-67 in the first round of The Basketball Tournament in Wichita, Kansas Thursday afternoon.
Quinton Rose led the Birds with 21 points. Though he struggled in the first half, the former Temple guard caught fire in the second. Rose, who now plays for the Westchester Knicks in the NBA GLeague, was a major reason the Birds were able to come back, scoring 15 points in the second, including five-straight points toward the end to bring the Birds within a point.
Adonis Thomas anchored Beale Street, a team made up mostly of former Memphis players. The 6-foot-7 Thomas, who played at Memphis from 2011 to 2013, had 19 points, shooting 8-15 from the field and 3-5 from three. Only four players scored in the second. Marcus Crawford, Ty Gordon and Jeremiah Martin all hit double-figures for the Boys.
The Broad Street Birds played without Jason Thompson, the former NBA center who had been one of the team's biggest roster additions, both literally and figuratively. Birds guard Shizz Alston told OwlScoop.com that Thompson missed the game due to an injury he sustained when he got poked in the eye during a practice.
Ups and downs
The Birds struggled out of the gate, as the Boys jumped out to a 16-6 lead in the first four minutes of the game. The Birds kept pace in the first quarter, but the Boys extended their lead to as much as 21 points in the second before leading by 14 at the end of the half.
Then, Rose took over.
Thanks to Rose’s 10 points, as well as six from former Princeton guard Myles Stephens and four from Justyn Hamilton, the Birds cut the deficit to three at the end of the third quarter. The Boys seemed to have little answer to the Birds’ new-found momentum.
The beginning of the fourth quarter was a slugfest. The scoring went back-and-forth until the Elam Ending target score was announced at 73 points. Though Rose brought the Birds to within one at 65-64, Broad Street scored just three points the rest of the game.
The trio of Gordon, Crawford and Thomas brought the Boys to the finish line. Gordon converted an and-one, Crawford knocked down two free throws, and Thomas hit the game-winning step-back three to send the Birds home.
Beale Street held the lead the entire game.
By the numbers
Rose led all scorers with 21 points.
Both teams had four scorers in double figures. The Birds had nine players score at least once, while the Boys only had eight, including four that only scored in the first half.
Alston, one of the founders of the team, finished with 11 points, the second-highest total for Broad Street. Hamilton and Stephens each added 10 points.
Gordon had 15 points for the Boys and only five in the second half. Martin had 12 points, and Crawford scored 11.
What’s next
Beale Street moves to the second round of the tournament. They will face the winner of the Aftershocks, Wichita State’s alumni team, and the B1 Ballers tomorrow.
As a result of the single-elimination rules, the Birds are out of the tournament.
The Temple program has connections to another TBT team, the Big 5 squad coached by former Owls star and Adam Fisher’s new Director of Player Development, Khalif Wyatt. Big 5 will play TBT defending champion Blue Collar U next Monday, July 24, at 2 p.m.
