Best Virginia gave a valiant effort but come up just short of Team 23 in the round of 16 in the TBT in Charleston Wednesday evening.
West Virginia fans were out in full force and Best Virginia was able to hang with Team 23, but in the end the veterans of The Basketball Tournament pulled out the win 75-67.
Best Virginia led at the end of the first quarter behind 50% shooting from behind the 3-point arc. Team 23 got out to a quick start in the game leading 5-0 using their length and size to control the paint, until Best Virginia’s defense and shooting was enough to give them a 21-17 lead at the end of the first. Team 23 didn’t allow the Mountaineers any rest in the second quarter as they stormed back into the ball game hitting 9 out of their last 10 shots and took a 44-37 lead into halftime.
Best Virginia came out of the locker room looking to get the offense going and the crowd back into the game and that is exactly what they did. WVU turned up the pressure and raced back in front taking a 58-53 lead into the final quarter of play.
The fourth quarter was a battle back and forth to get to the Elam Ending. Once under 4 minutes the target score was set at 74 points and Best Virginia trailed 66-65, but Team 23 would hold Best Virginia to just 2 points and cruised to a 75-67 final score.
Best Virginia was led by Kevin Jones with 14, Nathan Adrian finished with 12, John Flowers had 11 in the loss.
Marcus Hall finished with 20 for Team 23. As a result, Team 23 and the winner of the prior game on Wednesday, Sideline Cancer, will head to Dayton Ohio for the last 3 rounds of TBT action on Saturday July 31, 2021.