July 27 | Wichita, Kan.
JHX Hoops (Kansas Alumni) survived a physical, emotion-filled battle on Monday night, defeating the AfterShocks (Wichita State Alumni) 64-59 at Charles Koch Arena to advance to the TBT Alumni Championship. Kansas will now travel to Lexington to face La Familia (Kentucky Alumni) on Wednesday night with a chance to advance to the TBT $2 Million Championship Game.
The Alumni Semifinal which featured 12 lead changes took a dramatic turn midway through the second quarter when an altercation between Mario Chalmers and Rashard Kelly cleared both benches. The incident resulted in multiple ejections, leaving both teams with just six available players for the remainder of the game and setting the stage for a short-handed finish.
Kansas controlled the early stages of the contest, opening the game on an 8-2 run to quiet the Wichita crowd. The AfterShocks answered in the second quarter, finding their rhythm to take a narrow 27-25 lead into halftime as neither team was able to create much separation.
The game remained tight throughout the second half as both teams traded baskets and momentum. Zeke Mayo caught fire after the break, scoring 17 of his game-high 25 points in the second half to help JHX Hoops reclaim the lead. Kansas carried a 56-55 advantage into the Elam Ending with the Target Score set at 64.
With the score sitting at 58-57, Frank Mason III once again took over. The Kansas legend buried back-to-back three-pointers, including the game-winning basket, to send JHX Hoops to the Alumni Championship. It marked Mason’s third consecutive Elam Ending game-winning basket, making him just the third player in TBT history, and the first since Jimmy Pargo in 2019, to accomplish the feat.
Mayo led all scorers with 25 points on 10-of-20 shooting, while Jacob Hanna added 15 points and six rebounds. Mason finished with 13 points, three assists and the decisive basket, as Kansas forced 16 AfterShocks turnovers and turned them into 16 points.
Marcus Santos-Silva paced the AfterShocks with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Marcus Keene added 13 points and seven rebounds. Corey Washington chipped in 10 points and seven rebounds, but the defending champions shot just 33.3 percent from the field and were unable to hold off Kansas’ late surge.
With the victory, JHX Hoops advances to the TBT Alumni Championship on Wednesday, July 29, where it will face La Familia (Kentucky Alumni) at Historic Memorial Coliseum in Lexington. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. ET on FS1, with the winner advancing to face the Non-Alumni Champion for TBT’s $2 million prize.
