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DAYTON, Ohio — Boeheim’s Army trailed Team 23, just three points away from claiming its first The Basketball Tournament championship title and $1 million. Keifer Sykes brought the ball up to the three-point line and drove right. Sykes quickly pulled up, shot off his left leg and buried the game-winning 3-pointer. 

The bench exploded, storming the court to grasp Sykes. He ran to the media table, jumped up and raised his arms toward the crowd. First, he was smothered by D.J. Kennedy, then Tyler Lydon, then the rest of Boeheim’s Army all the while turquoise, white and golden confetti fell from the ceiling of the University of Dayton Arena. 

“(Eric Washington) was waiting on a screen. I saw him looking over his shoulder … he got distracted for the money and I wanted it,” Sykes said. “I just took it, and shot the shot.”

But hours earlier, when they arrived in Dayton, Ohio, members of Boeheim’s Army wouldn’t let the $1 million prize creep into their minds. Chris McCullough said they wouldn’t let it cross their minds until they arrived at the end of the tournament.

BA acted coy on Monday, a day before the championship game, with C.J. Fair saying “I don’t think as a hooper, that [$1 million is] going through your mind.” Head coach Jeremy Pope said if the moment comes, it’s his job to keep the team “calm and steady.” Pope knows that he can’t get over emotional, even with $1 million on the line. “It’s still a basketball game that needs to be won,” Pope said.

But when Sykes nailed three straight free throws to start the Elam Ending, Eric Devendorf began to wave on the crowd. When Kennedy laid in a putback layup, DeAndre Kane grabbed his head in disbelief.

After the celebration, Kennedy ran to the other side of the court and yelled in excitement on his own. Kane joined him with a TBT championship hat on, hugging his former Overseas Elite teammate. Pope said that the win that was “gratifying” and “validating.”

“It validates everything we’re about, just for the two and a half weeks that we’ve been a part of,” Pope said.

McCullough said that despite making it to the quarterfinals, they hadn’t surpassed the expectations or removed the “target on their backs” that the team said they had prior to the tournament. With their 69-67 win over Team 23, they met their expectations. They had achieved their goal and played to their reputation.

Keifer Sykes hits the game-winning 3 to secure Boeheim’s Army’s first TBT title with a 69-67 win over Team 23. Courtesy of Ben Solomon

“You get all the way to the championship game and you lose and it doesn’t mean (anything),” Devendorf said prior to the quarterfinals matchup.

Sykes started the Elam Ending like he did most possessions in the second half. He carried the ball up the court, waving the four other players into their spots. Boeheim’s Army played spaced out as it became increasingly clear that riding the hot hand of Sykes could stave off Team 23. He passed the ball to Tyrese Rice, who gave it back to Sykes for a catch and shoot a 3-point attempt. He was fouled on the shot, and after burying three straight free throws, the prospect of $1 million began to creep into Boeheim’s Army’s minds.

But until then, BA focused on the game ahead. In the second quarter, Sykes drove into the lane from the right side. Three Team 23 players crashed in on the 6-foot-1 guard as he tried to get an up-and-under attempt to go. It was quickly smothered, but Sykes regained possession and put up a bank shot that fell in as time expired.

Two possessions later, Sykes dished the ball into Lydon, who was bearing down the lane. Lydon carried his momentum into a layup attempt, drew the foul and drained both free throw attempts to bring Boeheim’s Army within two. 

Pope texted Sykes prior to the championship, instructing him to not wait for Rice or anyone. “Just go get it today,” Pope told Sykes. 

Sykes said those three free throws helped calm the team — and himself — down, something he needed. The guard said he’s done yoga each day since arriving in Dayton, Ohio, and he has tried to get some of the “good vibes” to rub off on his teammates.

One of the main areas of focus for Boeheim’s Army ahead of this year’s tournament was to solidify the second team. Relying on Devendorf and Malachi Richardson to win the championship hadn’t worked in the past. The additions of Fair, Lydon and Sykes demonstrated a desire to ensure the team’s bench was as talented as its starters.

“These games are shorter so when you’re coming off the bench, you don’t have a lot of time to get the feel of the game,” Fair said. “Good things happen for those that are aggressive.”

Eric Devendorf and Jim Boeheim embrace after Boeheim’s Army secured its victory over Team 23. Courtesy of Ben Solomon

Through the progression of tournament games, from training camp to Dayton, Ohio, players on the team found their roles and became good at it, Lydon said. The bench’s role is to alleviate the starters, saying that their exit won’t mean a drop-off in the level of play, he said.

 “When you (have) 10 guys up and down the roster that can start on any given night, obviously that helps a ton,” Lydon said.

“You’re not losing anything when you sub in. One through ten, everyone’s been a starter,” Devendorf said before the team’s quarterfinals game when they scored 19 points off the bench.

Midway through the third quarter Devendorf tipped a rebound out to Sykes. In transition, Devendorf then settled in the left corner. Sykes flipped it down to the veteran from the top of the key, and Devendorf buried his fadeaway long 2-pointer. Sykes sandwiched that assist between two passes dished inside to Lydon, resulting in two drawn fouls and four points.

At the end of the third quarter, Kennedy’s chest pass found Sykes in the left corner. Team 23 had just extended their lead back out to five after Boeheim’s Army spent the majority of the third quarter attempting to crawl back into control. His second 3-pointer of the night gave him 10 points and cut the Team 23 lead to two.

Sykes said he kept looking out at his son, Keifer Sykes Jr., whose birthday was the day of the championship. He told himself he had to win the game for his son.

“Every game he came up big, whether it was making shots or being scrappy defensively, being a glue guy, giving effort,” Ryan Blackwell, the first head coach and current assistant coach of Boeheim’s Army, said of Sykes. “That’s what we’ve been missing.”

Devendorf stood just a few feet away from Sykes when he drained the game-winning shot. He immediately consoled Washington, who put his hands on his head as his shoulders slumped before joining the celebration. Once he got his turn congratulating Sykes, he went to center court where Blackwell was. Both men began their TBT journeys in 2015 with Boeheim’s Army, grinding through seven years of knocking on the championship door.

For the first time since the team’s inception, Devendorf was wearing a black TBT championship hat. His blue paper cup held E&J Brandy that the team sipped to begin the celebration.

After the confetti fell, the team then moved to the big bracket, looming large with a towering black curtain behind the teams’ benches. Once a TBT team wins, they move their nameplate to the next round on the bracket. Devendorf was handed the Boeheim’s Army nameplate to do the honors of moving it.

Only one team ends the 64-team, single-elimination tournament with $1 million. For the first time, their nameplate was proudly displayed in the center of the bracket, above the word “Champion.”

Published on August 3, 2021 at 11:19 pm

Contact Anthony: aalandt@syr.edu | @anthonyalandt