By: TBT Staff

It wasn’t pretty. It didn’t matter.

Despite shooting just 47% (9-for-19) from the free throw line and not leading until the Elam Ending, Boeheim’s Army clawed back from an 11-point deficit to shock the defending champion Golden Eagles, 73-69.

Tyrese Rice hit a running layup to hit the Target Score and send the Syracuse University alumni squad to its first TBT semi-finals since 2017.

“My confidence is never going to waver,” said Rice, who finished with a team-high 20 points on 8-for-14 shooting. 

Chris McCullough tallied a team-high 14 points and pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds in the win for Boeheim’s Army, which outrebounded the Golden Eagles, 44-29.

Boeheim’s Army hit the glass on the offensive end, collecting 18 offensive rebounds to just six for the Golden Eagles.

“Our bigs have been amazing for us,” said Boeheim’s Army coach Jeremy Pope. 

Golden Eagles guard Travis Diener’s two three-pointers keyed a 10-0 run late in the third quarter that seemingly put the game out of hand, but the Marquette University alumni squad wasn’t able to withstand the fourth-quarter flurry from Boeheim’s Army.

“I always felt that we were close,” said Pope. “I felt that we were always knocking.”

Malachi Richardson hit two triples of his own to spark a 10-0, fourth quarter run for Boeheim’s Army, which finished the game on a 21-6 run.

“We’ve got guys with championship pedigree,” said Rice, in referring to former TBT champions  DeAndre Kane and D.J. Kennedy. “We understand that the game isn’t going to be pretty [at the end] but that we’ve got to close it out.”

Dwight Buycks led all scorers with 22 points on 8-for-11 shooting in the loss for the Golden Eagles, who fell for the first time since a 2019 defeat at the hands of Carmen’s Crew.

Boeheim’s Army vs. Golden Eagles Box Score