The Ohio State alumni team advances to The Basketball Tournament Super 16

For the second day in a row, team Scarlet & Gray was victorious in the opening weekend of The Basketball Tournament. On Sunday, the team primarily consisting of for former Ohio State basketball players knocked off a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee team called the Banner Boys, 72-58. Check out the highlights below.

The tournament’s eventual champion will receive a prize of $2 million dollars to be awarded on August 3rd following the finals in Baltimore, MD.

Leading the way for the former Buckeyes was three-point specialist Jon Diebler. A member of Beşiktaş in the Turkish pro league, Diebler finished with a game-high 21 points, hitting five of his eight attempts from beyond the arc.

William Buford, currently a member of BCM Gravelines in the French Pro A league, turned in 14 points in just 16 minutes.

The Midwest’s second-seeded Scarlet & Gray team went on a 10-0 run in the early minutes, and after trailing 1-0, never relinquished the lead. Just over halfway through the first half, a driving Jared Sullinger found Evan Ravenel for a corner three to put the former Buckeyes up 24-12.

Ravenel, currently on the Japanese Akita Northern Happinets, finished with six points and three boards. Sullinger, who is currently without an NBA team after playing for Boston and Toronto last year, finished the game with four points and eight boards.

However, the No. 7 Banners Boys went on a 17-3 run in the half’s final eight minutes to pull within five with less than a minute to go before halftime, but S&G went into the locker room up 39-30.

Former UW-Milwaukee shooting guard Myles McKay led the Banner Boys with 14 points and three assists, with Kaylon Williams adding 13, and Jordan Aaron chipping in 10.

Former Buckeye point guard Aaron Craft finished the game with seven points, eight boards, and four assists, and was the obnoxious defender that OSU fans grew to love during his time in Columbus. Craft will play for AS Monaco Basket in the French Pro A league this season.

Also contributing for team Scarlet & Gray was former Northern Illinois power forward Leon Rodgers. He turned in nine points and six assists on the afternoon. The Scarlet & Gray team used their size and athleticism advantages to outscore the Banner Boys 20 to 4 on second chance points, and the bench of former Buckeye greats held a 28-15 edge over their Banner Boy counterparts.

As a team S&G shot 43.6% from the field, and, primarily thanks to Diebler, 40.9% from three-point land. Turnovers were still a concern for the former Buckeyes, as they committed 12 in their opening round game and 19 on Sunday. As their competition continues to improve, this will become an increasingly important factor for team Scarlet and Gray.

The squad will next play in Brooklyn, NY on Saturday, July 22nd at 2:00 p.m. EDT against the winner of Sunday’s game between the No. 6 Fort Wayne Champs and No. 3 Always a Brave, a team made up of Bradley University alums. The game will be broadcast on the ESPN family of networks.