By Colin Schofield
The 20th Danny Rumph Classic featured everything fans could have hoped for from Thursday to Sunday and it was only fitting that Championship Monday gave them the same treat. Blue Magic led TBB for virtually the entire game, leading by as many as 21 in the second half.
Suddenly, a switch flipped with 11 minutes remaining.
TBB crawled back behind Mo Watson and Lakeem McAliley, trimming the deficit to single digits in the waning stages. However, Archie Goodwin showed why he’s a pro and kept TBB at arm’s reach. TBB still refused to quit.
TBB cut the Blue Magic lead to three with 27 seconds left and Watson had two free throws to get even closer. But he missed both free throws, letting a crucial opportunity slip away. Blue Magic converted their free throws on the other end to seal the 93-89 championship win. Goodwin earned MVP honors with 27 points, 21 of which came in the second half.
Blue Magic shot out of the gate to begin the championship behind forward Wayne Marshall’s five straight points. However, the potent TBB offense did not stay quiet for long.
Taylor Funk got a tip-in to fall for TBB and it was off and running from there.
Funk ripped off eight straight points to give TBB the lead. Justin “Somebody’s Boss” Jaworski drilled a deep three following the Funk run to cap off a 13-0 TBB stretch. Jordan Hall finally ended the run with a layup. Hall’s bucket reignited the Blue Magic offense as they snatched a 23-17 lead.
The final 10 minutes of the first half turned into The Ed Croswell Show for Blue Magic.
The former Providence forward was a force in the paint and converted an and-one layup to push Blue Magic’s lead to double digits. Croswell did the same thing a couple of possessions later as he continued to dominate down low.
TBB’s offense was virtually non-existent for the entire first half as Jaworski struggled to find his groove, going just 2-11 in the first 20 minutes. Blue Magic held a 45-34 halftime lead behind a double-double from Croswell.
Blue Magic decided to put its foot on TBB’s neck coming out of the second half – or so it seemed.
Hall connected on a three and Archie Goodwin cruised to a fastbreak layup and the Blue Magic lead continued to grow. Croswell made his presence known in the paint again with a layup to force a TBB timeout.
Goodwin took command of the game with a pair of layups and Hall nailed a three to push the lead to 21. TBB looked dead in the water on both ends of the ball, but with 11 minutes left, a switch flipped.
TBB’s offense finally started to wake up behind Mo Watson, who continuously got to the rim for easy layups. The defense also picked up for TBB and the deficit began to shrink. Funk got free for a three and hit to bring the Blue Magic lead down to just seven.
Watson and Goodwin went shot-for-shot, but Goodwin grasped the upper hand. The NBA veteran bullied his way to the cup for a layup, then hit a contested jumper to push the lead back to nine.
But, TBB refused to go down quietly.
TBB got within four points, but Goodwin and Marshall stepped up and pushed the lead back to 10. TBB once again got the lead down to three with under a minute to play, but could not come up with one more bucket and Blue Magic closed out the 20th Rumph Classic championship with a win.