Usually, the first week of August means the long weeks of summer ramping down as kids from across the country get ready for school.
However, the first week of summer’s final month means something different in Philadelphia; the beginning of the Danny Rumph Classic. The 19th year of the tournament kicked off Thursday night and it was only fitting that the Rumph Center kicked off the weekend.
Game One
Rumph Center began the festivities against Blue Magic with a 66-64 loss against Rumph legend Brandon Austin and his squad.
Austin’s fast start helped give Blue Magic a 12-6 lead, but the enchantment ran out soon after. Led by the two-headed monster of Givens and Alize Johnson, Rumph Center led 38-36 going into halftime.
Much like the first half, the second half featured a back-and-forth with neither squad able to scrap out a lead of more than four points.
Then, former five-star Duke guard Trevon Duval ended that trend by scoring seven of his 15 points in the second half to balloon Blue Magic’s lead to seven. A.J. English chipped in with eight points in the second half to put a bow on a Blue Magic victory.
However, with under 20 seconds remaining, a five-point lead and the ball, English inadvertently passed the rock to Johnson and a surefire victory was on the line.
With all eyes on him, Rumph Center’s Quan Davis had the game-winner in his sights. But the Community College of Philadelphia’s court had other plans. Davis slipped before getting a shot off, giving an otherwise exciting game an anti-climatic ending. Samme Givens helped Rumph Center close the gap with 10 points.
Throughout all the exciting moments, though, the best player on the court was Brandon Moss, who began the 19th Rumph Classic with 15 points and 12 rebounds for the first double-double and Player of the Game award of the weekend.
“I’ll do anything for the team to win,” Moss said. “We talked about second-chance points. In the first quarter, [Rumph Center] had like 18 second-chance points. In [the fourth quarter], they probably had 8-10. So that’s why we went up how we did.”
Blue Magic (1-0) moves on to play a fellow 1-0 team on Friday night, while Rumph Center (0-1) will be playing an elimination game against another 0-1 squad.
Game Two
Much like game one, game two of the Danny Rumph Classic was a back-and-forth battle between DevelopNow and Basketball Finders; except in the moments that mattered
Through the middle parts of the game, both teams traded baskets. However, when it came down to the opening and closing minutes, Basketball Finders couldn’t get any offense going as they fell to DevelopNow, 84-75.
DevelopNow took control with an early 20-8 lead against Basketball Finders in the first quarter behind former Alabama guard Aaron Estrada’s strong first half.
When it seemed like DevelopNow was beginning to pull away, Iowa Wolves guard Tyrese Martin caught fire. The former Rhode Island and UConn standout scored nine of his 17 first-half points in the final five minutes to cut DevelopNow’s lead to eight entering the intermission.
The game’s final two minutes featured multiple lead changes until Basketball Finders went cold.
Estrada and Hakim Hart Jr. — the former Roman Catholic and Villanova forward — took advantage and helped close out the final minutes. Both finished with 21 points, while Hart added eight rebounds.
Martin continued his dominance in the second half, finishing with 31 points. Former Saint Joseph’s forward Taylor Funk recorded the second double-double of the night with 20 points and 14 rebounds for the Basketball Finders, but it wasn’t enough to pull out the victory. 
DevelopNow (1-0) will go on to play Blue Magic (1-0) tomorrow in the winners’ bracket, while Basketball Finders (0-1) will take on the Rumph Center (0-1) in the losers’ bracket.
