Day one of the Danny Rumph Classic featured jaw-dropping action from start to finish. Between TBB’s perimeter avalanche against Rumph Center and Jordan Hall’s 50-piece, the Daskalakis Athletic Center was buzzing.
Heading into night two, every team aimed to keep the momentum as the chance of elimination upped the stakes.
Game One
From the opening tip, it was clear neither Rumph Center nor Rex6 wanted to go home.
It seemed as if Wali Hepburn wasn’t going to let his team fall — but Rasool Diggins had other plans.
Rumph Center had the ball faced a one-point deficit with less than a minute remaining and turned to Diggins to get them out of the hole. His response was a slash to the basket where he connected with a layup to retake the lead, and seemingly end Rex6’s season.
But there was too much time for Hepburn.
The Rumph legend has been in these situations before, including a buzzer-beater last season. The situation just felt Rex6 would be able to scrape by behind Hepburn’s last-second heroics.
But that wasn’t the case. Hepburn was swarmed as soon as the ball touched his hands, and he lost control of the rock, and Rex6 lost the game 68-66.
Each team came out with a chip on their shoulders. Hepburn’s ball-handling wizardry got Rex6 grooving offensively with the first six points. He overwhelmed Rumph Center with 17 first-half points to give Rex6 the upper hand.
However, Rumph Center constantly countered Rex6’s offensive play with impressive play of its own. They dominated the offensive glass as Samme Givens led the way with six rebounds. This gave Rumph Center many second-chance opportunities that they took advantage of.
Diggins was able to snag Rumph Center a three-point advantage after the first 20 minutes. He chipped in 12 first-half points with timely buckets in the closing minutes. The issue for Rex6 was that they couldn’t find much offense from anyone outside of Hepburn.
This trend persisted as Hepburn became the first player to reach 20 points five minutes into the second half. Rumph Center kept them at a short distance thanks to the continued hot hand of Jordain, who notched 23 points and shot a perfect three for three from beyond the arc.
Desi Washington took the pressure off of Hepburn as his jumper tied the game after going scoreless in the first half. His steady presence as a ball-handler opened up opportunities for himself as well as his teammates. He cashed in a pair of free throws that tied the game with 10 minutes left.
A game that was once a defensive fair broke open into a frantic pace with each team trading baskets that would appear on a highlight reel. Diggins’ sporadic perimeter shooting arrived at just the right time for Rumph Center as his 12 second-half points proved to be critical.
And it was Diggins who delivered the final blow in the form of a layup off the dribble, to put Rex6 away for good.
Rumph Center (1-1) will advance to face Coach Tone Runs, while Rex6 is officially eliminated.
By Jacob Moreno
Game Two
The first winners’ bracket game of the night featured TBB and L.O.E. battling for a spot in the semifinals.
Both teams boasted plenty of firepower and spent the first half trading blows, which mainly came from TBB’s Taylor Funk and L.O.E.’s Tone Carr. L.O.E. entered halftime with a two-point lead and an exciting second half looked to be in store for the crowd at the DAC.
The second half provided the same fireworks and with 12 seconds left, the two teams were deadlocked at 70.
Lakeem McAliley snagged a rebound from an L.O.E. miss and brought the ball up the court. He set up from the deep left wing and launched a three with five seconds left.
The ball swished perfectly through the net to send the DAC crowd into a frenzy. L.O.E. had multiple chances to tie the game but couldn’t hit a shot, sending TBB to the semifinals with a 73-70 win.
TBB poured on 92 points in their first game and the offense looked equally explosive to start game two. Erik Timko scored a layup seconds after the opening tip for TBB, before Funk introduced himself to the crowd.
Funk pulled up from the Drexel dragon logo and connected on a three, drawing murmurs from the stands. He hit another three two possessions later and in the blink of an eye, TBB held a 10-0 lead.
The drastic advantage was short-lived, however, as L.O.E. stormed back behind a flurry of buckets by former MVP Tone Carr.
Carr worked his magic inside the arc with mid-range hits and layups before expanding his range. The Penn State product drilled back-to-back threes to punctuate a 17-5 L.O.E. run to give them a 17-15 lead.
The two teams traded punches for the remainder of the first half, with neither able to extend their lead. Carr put the finishing touches on a 19-point first half with two free throws to give L.O.E. a 40-38 lead entering halftime.
The second half gave L.O.E. a shot to start hot and they did not disappoint.
Ahmed “JR” Gilbert made a pair of three-pointers to give L.O.E. breathing room. Then Lamar Stevens rocked the rim with a big 360 dunk and Jon Harrar followed with a slam of his own minutes later.
Suddenly, L.O.E. supported a 15-point lead and seemed destined for the semi-finals.
But TBB refused to go down quietly.
Timko found the bottom of the net from three to bring the L.O.E. lead down to nine. Funk followed Timko with a wing three of his own the next possession to force a timeout from L.O.E.
Once TBB was back in the game, the rock fight from the first half ensued again.
Timko and Stevens traded buckets and the game was knotted at 65 with three minutes to play. The defenses settled in from there until McAliley stepped up to seal the deal. He made two clutch free throws in the final minute, then hit the game-deciding three in the final seconds to give TBB the victory.
TBB(2-0) advances to the semifinals on Sunday, while L.O.E.(1-1) will now face the winner of F.O.E. and Develop Now on Saturday in an elimination game.
By Colin Schofield
Game Three
The NBA is the highest level of basketball competition in the world and Blue Magic proved why tonight.
Whether it was Trevon Duval’s slick ball-handing, Archie Goodwin’s multifaceted shot creation or Jordan Hall’s willingness to let triples fly, they imprinted their mark on the game. The trio combined for 47 of Blue Magic’s 65 points and helped Blue Magic cruise passed Coach Tone Runs for a 65-61 win.
The opening minutes saw neither team establish an offensive momentum. Duval eventually opened the floodgates with an emphatic one-handed slam. From there, Blue Magic cracked open the game with a lead as large as 15 points in the first half.
Duval was too much for Coach Tone Runs to handle in the early points of the game and matters only escalated when Goodwin checked in.
No matter where he was on the floor, Goodwin’s shots went in to turbocharge Blue Magic’s offense. Goodwin converted on six of his first seven shot attempts and had 13 points at the intermission.
Despite Blue Magic’s offensive sorcery dying down in the closing minutes of the first half, Coach Tone Runs continued to miss shots that limited them from catching up. After missing his first five shots, Hall hit a layup to push Blue Magic’s lead to double digits. Coach Tone Runs trailed by 11 points through the first 20 minutes.
Goodwin picked up right where he left off in the first half with his scoring at will. Coach Tone Runs briefly brought it within single digits, but Goodwin and Duval shut the door to a potential comeback.
Blue Magic continued to pour it on as their lead grew to a devastating 19 points with nearly seven minutes to go in the contest. However, Hollis-Jefferson made things interesting down the stretch with a flurry of buckets but finished with just eight points.
Coach Tone Runs cut the deficit to five points, with less than a minute remaining in the game. However, Blue Magic was able to narrowly escape Coach Tone Runs’ late surge by the skin of their teeth.
Blue Magic advances to the semifinals, and Coach Tone Runs will face Rumph Center in Saturday’s elimination matchup.
By Jacob Moreno
Game Four
In the final game of day two at the Rumph Classic, Develop Now and F.O.E. were fighting the right to play another day at the DAC.
Both teams’ desire to survive and advance was evident in the first half as neither could gain an advantage larger than 10 points. Develop Now only had five players available but that didn’t matter and they entered halftime trailing by just 11 points.
However, the lack of bodies for Develop Now quickly became an issue in the second half.
F.O.E. found an offensive rhythm, which spelled doom for Develop Now. Fatigue began to set in and Develop Now struggled to get stops or put the ball in the basket. F.O.E. took advantage of a tired team and cruised to a 76-56 win and lives to fight another day.
F.O.E. opened the game strong behind Donta Scott. The former Maryland forward got down in the paint for two early layups, then connected on a three-pointer. Jahlil White added a three alongside Scott and F.O.E. was off and running with a 12-5 lead.
Despite having just five players, Develop Now refused to lie down and Mir Wilson made sure of that.
Wilson was Mr. do-it-all for Develop Now. He got a pair of shots to fall and crashed the boards although he was the smallest player on the floor. Jazere Noel chipped in alongside Wilson, getting to his spots to rack up 12 first-half points.
“ManMan” Robert Smith got hot near the end of the first half and scored five straight points for F.O.E. Then Chris Ings took control of the game for F.O.E., extending their lead to 49-38 heading into halftime and he led the way with 14 points.
Once the second half got started, it became the F.O.E. show.
Scott kept his hand hot from the first half and got a pair of buckets to push the F.O.E. lead to double digits. Develop Now tried to keep pace but not having a bench proved to be a problem.
The defensive effort deteriorated for Develop Now and the offense went ice cold. As a result, F.O.E. put the game in cruise control.
F.O.E. showed off their offensive balance in the blowout win with nine different players finding the bottom of the net. Scott and Ings led the way with 16 points apiece and ManMan chipped in 15 points. Markus Kennedy recorded a double-double for F.O.E. with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
F.O.E. will take on L.O.E. in another elimination game Saturday afternoon, while Develop Now’s second loss marks the end of its time at the Rumph.
By Colin Schofield