CHARLESTON, W.Va. — After allowing the Sikh Warriors to shoot 9 for 16 in the opening quarter, Herd That faced a two-point deficit through 9 minutes of its The Basketball Tournament (TBT) opener Friday night at the Charleston Coliseum.
Marshall’s alumni-based team then made a defensive adjustment that largely allowed it to control the game from that point forward, with Herd That limiting Sikh Warriors to less than 39 percent shooting the rest of the way to claim an 84-71 victory and advance to the second round.
A 1-3-1 zone proved effective and helped Herd That slow Sikh Warriors down following their sizzling start.
“Early on, it looked like they’d been preparing for us for a while. They had a sequence they were effective at and I thought we had to do something to take them out of that and make them uncomfortable — and we did that,” Herd That head coach Ot Elmore said. “We have good players and that’s the big thing.”
Sikh Warriors’ guard AJ Basi was a handful in the opening frame and made four of his team’s five three-pointers to score 14 points and leave Herd That facing a 23-21 deficit.
In the second period, the Sikh Warriors were limited to 4-for-15 shooting. Alhough Herd That encountered offensive struggles of its own that quarter, after Nick McGlynn scored inside to make it 28-27, Sikh Warriors never led again.
A dunk from JP Tokoto and two McGlynn free throws provided the final four points of the first half and allowed Herd That to enter the break leading 36-31.
Both teams increased their offensive output throughout the third quarter, but Herd That stayed on top thanks in large part to Tokoto and Jacorey Williams scoring seven points apiece in that period.
A pivotal stretch occurred after Vick Toor converted a follow-up basket to bring Sikh Warriors to within 49-47. Herd That ran off the next nine points, holding Sikh Warriors without a point for nearly 3 minutes and building the game’s first double-digit advantage in the process.
“We were just trying to play off JP and let him set up guys and organize everything,” Williams said. “He did a great job managing the game. I had the biggest mismatch on the floor. Whoever had the biggest mismatch is who we wanted to find.”
Herd That settled for a 64-55 lead through three and got a three from Xavier Munford for the first points of the fourth to lead by a dozen.
However, Sikh Warriors answered with a 7-0 spurt and got to within five on an Ajaypal Singh layup at the 7:12 mark of the fourth.
Herd That scored nine of the next 13 points to turn a five-point lead into a 76-66 advantage, which came about when Williams scored inside to set his team up with a 10-point cushion entering the Elam Ending.
Needing 84 points for a victory, Herd That took a big step forward by scoring the first seven points during the Elam Ending portion, including five from Williams to go with a Derek Cooke Jr. dunk.
Tokoto made a free throw to seal the result and send Herd That into second round of TBT.
Pending the result of Saturday’s NBA Summer League game between the Toronto Raptors and Sacramento Kings, Herd That could have Jon Elmore and Taevion Kinsey available for Sunday’s game, which will be against the winner of Best Virginia and DuBois Dream. The top two scoring leaders in Herd hoops history are both currently playing for the Kings, and should they win Saturday, they’d play again Sunday for a Summer League Championship. Regardless of the outcome of Sacramento’s game Saturday, Elmore and Kinsey are expected to rejoin the team for a potential regional championship should Herd That be playing for one Tuesday.
“We’re going to play with who we have here,” coach Elmore said. “We have some pretty good players here. Jon and Taevion are both good players, but I feel good about the eight we have, too.”
Williams led all players with 29 points and added 10 rebounds to help Herd That win the battle of the boards, 46-34.
Tokoto scored 17 to go with a game-high seven assists. McGlynn added 10 points and five rebounds off the bench, while Cooke Jr. contributed nine points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
Herd That had seven turnovers to 16 for Sikh Warriors, which got 20 points from Basi and 19 from Jaskarn Bajwa in defeat.
“I have guys around me that made my job easier tonight,” Tokoto said. “Guys that can hit shots and guys that can get to the rim. Next game, whoever we play, it’s going to be more focus defensively, because that’s what we did was turn it up defensively. We’re at our best when we can just flow and go.”