by Parker Fields
The Basketball Tournament otherwise known as the TBT. The tournament was hosted in the Cintas Center on Monday Night in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Nasty Nati team which was made up of mainly former UC Bearcats, faced off against the Fort Wayne Champs at 6:00.
This game was a dog fight from the very start. The fort Wayne Champs got out of the gates rolling early with a tenacious defense which led to lots of easy transition baskets to get the game going. Former Northern Kentucky star point guard Taylor Persons was the driving force to the Fort Wayne Champs from the start with his ability to control the pace.
Nasty Nati entered the second quarter trailing 19-11 after a first quarter in which they shot just 4-16 from the field. The second quarter however, was a different story for Nasty Nati. The former Bearcat and former Golden State Warrior Jacob Evans led the comeback charge with 11 points and shot 2-4 from three in the quarter to give Nasty a 32-30 lead at the half. The former Bearcats really tightened up on the defensive end and held The Fort Wayne Champs to just 11 points and 4-15 from the field.
The second half was a back and forth brawl from the first whistle. Taylor Persons dominated this half with 20 points on an efficient 6-9 from the field, and 3-5 from three. Jarron Cumberland was the leader for Nasty Nati with a solid 13 points. Jacob Evans chipped in with one of the craziest buzzer beaters from past half court that you will ever see.
The game was coming down to the wire with the score at 63-62 with the Fort Wayne Champs leading when the elam ending kicked in. This means once their is four minutes left in the game whoever is leading the winner must reach 8 points more than that score. Once they do, the game will be over. This ending went down to the wire until Taylor Persons came down to end the game with a tough dagger pull-up jumper. That was the game, Nasty Nati had lost and the Fort Wayne Champs had won.
Tayler Persons led the Fort Wayne Champs with 26 points and Jacob Evans led Nasty Nati with 20.
Games will continue at the Cintas Center on Wednesday night on Espn and we'll have you covered.
