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D.J. Kennedy drove into the paint but couldn’t find a good look after Team Heartfire’s defense snuffed out his attempt. He saw Tyler Lydon under the hoop and dished it forward to him. Lydon looked toward Keifer Sykes, who was standing wide open in the right corner. Once Sykes collected the swing pass from the Boeheim’s Army big man, he calmly stroked a 3-pointer, retaking the lead as the game entered into the Elam Ending.

As Boeheim’s Army inched toward a third-round berth, head coach Jeremy Pope subbed in Chris McCullough in for Sykes. Tyrese Rice drove toward the net and dished the ball outside to McCullough. McCullough faked a 3, swinging the ball to his left before getting around Gary McGhee. As he eyed an open lane ideal for a long 2-pointer, he aimed and fired, shouting, “That’s game” just before the ball swished through the net. He walked off toward half court, chest-bumping DeAndre Kane as Boeheim’s Army eliminated Team Heartfire from the tournament and $1 million contention.

In Boeheim’s Army’s 68-62 win over Team Heartfire, the No. 3 seed shot 53.8% from the field and was 6-for-12 from deep in the first half, finishing 40% from long range. Sykes, one of four newcomers to Boeheim’s Army, helped the Syracuse alumni team advance to the third round of The Basketball Tournament despite a 15-1 run from Team Heartfire in the third quarter.

“It’s just ebbs and flows. That’s just the nature of this deal,” Pope said. “We never thought we’d waver. We never thought we (weren’t) going to pull it out.”

Boeheim’s Army led by four in the early minutes of the second quarter as Team Heartfire sputtered offensively, only scoring four points within five minutes. C.J. Fair nabbed a hard rebound off the backboard. Turning his head up, he saw a wide-open Sykes at the top of the key. Sykes drained his shot, securing his eighth point off the bench.

It took the Wisconsin-Green Bay graduate little time to find his groove. After recording just two points and two assists against Forces of Seoul, Sykes finished the first half against Team Heartfire with eight points off the bench. Despite playing just eight minutes in Saturday’s win, Sykes “didn’t pout” and didn’t complain, Pope said.

He’s a veteran that can play, Pope said, and Sykes was happy that Rice got the opportunity to drop 20 points. But Monday night was Sykes’ night, and it was Rice cheering on his fellow guard from the bench.

“Our bench leadership was amazing,” Pope said. “Tyrese Rice played 16 minutes. The other day he played (28 minutes), but you hear him on the bench cheering Kiefer on.”

Coming out of the first half, Boeheim’s Army’s shooting drastically regressed. Scoring just 13 points in the third quarter, it didn’t connect on a single 3 and shot 37.5% from the field.

Despite Sykes continuing his hot shooting from the first half, he scored just four points in the third quarter and made just one 3 in the entire second half. But, he was able to end the third quarter with his first field goal of the night. After, Sykes stumbled at the outer arc as he tried to create space with his defender. Once steady, he broke down the lane and rolled in a layup to give Boeheim’s Army a two-point lead in the third quarter.

Keifer Sykes finished the first half with eight points off the bench. Courtesy of Ben Solomon

“Having 17 points today shooting the ball the way (Sykes) shot it, none of us are surprised,” Pope said.

But, in game one against Forces of Seoul, Boeheim’s Army struggled to shoot. Its 35.8% shooting in the first game ranked toward the bottom of the pack amongst TBT teams after its first matchup, and BA ranked near the bottom 30% of teams in field goals made.

“You could tell by the way we started people were having jitters, missing layups or easy buckets that we expected to make,” Pope said on Saturday.

But eventually, in round one, Boeheim’s Army found its rhythm, draining six shots from deep. Pope knew the group that was on the floor to secure the victory over Forces of Seoul — including Kane — would be his starting five in round two against Team Heartfire.

This time, Boeheim’s Army didn’t see the early-game slump Pope said they had against Forces of Seoul. D.J. Kennedy settled in early, scoring the opening points of the game after backing down his defender on the right block, eventually spinning around Team Heartfire’s big man for an easy layup.

After a 3 from Team Heartfire’s Aaron Epps to begin the third quarter, Kane muscled his way to a rebound. Corralling the ball, he looked up the court to a wide-open Kennedy whose defender was trailing far behind him. He chest-passed up to his former teammate on Overseas Elite, allowing Kennedy to connect for an easy layup.

In its first matchup, Team Heartfire utilized on-ball screens at the top of the key to create separation beyond the 3-point arc. They connected on 40% of their three-point attempts in round one, led by Jared Wilson-Frame, who went 5-for-13 from deep.

Tevin Mack led Team Heartfire with 16 points, including three made 3s. But Team Heartfire couldn’t find the same success from long range against Boeheim’s Army, beginning the game 1-for-9 from deep. They ended Monday night shooting 30.8% from deep. As Team Heartfire faltered, Boeheim’s Army continued its dominant shooting from the floor and eventually concluded the game shooting 44%.

Despite Team Heartfire’s lack of shooting success, Boeheim’s Army’s aggressive style that carried it through the first half had faded slightly into the third quarter, giving Team Heartfire a platform for a comeback.

McGhee nailed two free throws, extending Team Heartfire’s lead midway through the third quarter. After a timeout by Pope in an attempt to halt momentum, Team Heartfire’s A.J. Walton scored four straight, extending the third-quarter run to 15-1 and widening its lead.

Following their opening-round win against The Overlooked, Team Heartfire general manager Homer Drew said that the team is built on toughness. “Coach (LaPhonso) Ellis has set a tremendous tone of defense and togetherness with this team,” Drew said.

But a defensive rebound from Kane and a layup from Sykes put Boeheim’s Army back in the game. BA entered the final quarter up two points despite being outscored in the third quarter by 10 points from Team Heartfire.

Boeheim’s Army’s largest lead in the fourth quarter prior to the Elam Ending was four. That four-point lead quickly faded as Team Heartfire found themselves leading after a fastbreak layup from J.J. Avila — a lead they would soon relinquish.

McCullough’s game-winning jumper would secure Boeheim’s Army’s second win of The Basketball Tournament and punch its ticket to the third round.

Published on July 26, 2021 at 9:27 pm

Contact Anthony: aalandt@syr.edu | @anthonyalandt