Wichita State alumni AfterShocks extend winning streak at Koch Arena with TBT opening win
The winning streak in the Roundhouse lives on for the AfterShocks.
Unlike last year’s 31-point romp to open up The Basketball Tournament play, the Wichita State alumni team faced plenty of adversity in Thursday’s opening-round game at Koch Arena.
A rally from a halftime deficit was required, but the AfterShocks ultimately handled their business in a 66-54 win over B1 Ballers. The AfterShocks improved to 9-1 on their home floor in front of 4,515 fans at Koch Arena, the seventh-largest crowd in TBT history.
The AfterShocks advanced to the second round of the TBT bracket to face the Memphis alumni squad, Beale Street Boys, which won 73-67 over Temple’s Broad Street Birds, in an 8 p.m. Friday regional semifinal game broadcast on ESPN2.
“You can’t replicate playing out here in front of 5,000 fans,” AfterShocks head coach Zach Bush said. “Just the emotion that it brings out of you. It’s so much different than practice. For all of these guys to get back in the swing of things, it’s helpful. It’s a fairly new group, so getting some chemistry together was big for us.”
A second-half rally helped avoid an awkward Friday evening in the Roundhouse, as WSU planned to recognize Fred VanVleet and the rest of the 2013 Final Four team during halftime of Friday’s nightcap. Single-session tickets for Friday, which also includes K-State’s Purple & Black facing Team Arkansas at 6 p.m., are still available through GoShockers.com.
A commitment to defense once again carried the AfterShocks, which have advanced to the quarterfinals and semifinals of The Basketball Tournament the past two summers.
After B1 Ballers built a 40-34 lead early in the third quarter, the WSU alumni squad blanked B1 Ballers for more than six minutes and forced misses on 20 of the final 24 shots of the game. B1 Ballers scored just eight points in the final 13 minutes of game play, plus the Elam Ending.
“Sometimes you’ve got to find yourself deep down inside and play some defense,” said AfterShocks guard Tyrus McGee, who scored 11 points. “For the three years I’ve been here, we’ve clicked as a unit. We understand each other.”
It’s not the first time B1 Ballers put a scare into a higher seed in the opening round of TBT play, as just last year the mishmash collection of pros took Texas Tech’s Air Raiders down to the final possession.
Given the talent disparity in Thursday’s game, B1 Ballers had get creative to remain competitive. The team employed a 1-3-1 zone defense that funneled the ball to the sidelines and aggressively trapped the AfterShocks’ ball handlers, an effective strategy that forced 13 turnovers.
B1 Ballers had silenced the Koch Arena crowd when Charlie Marquardt (team-high 10 points) drilled a 3-pointer to bury the AfterShocks in a 40-34 deficit. It took the AfterShocks less than 70 seconds to erase the deficit with a Marcus Lee tip-in, a Markis McDuffie put-back dunk and a rim-rattling Lee jam.
Darral Willis followed with a mid-range jumper, then Hutchinson native Caleb Walker scored four straight points to cap a game-defining 12-0 run that turned a six-point deficit into a six-point lead, 46-40. Walker finished with 10 points off the bench with four rebounds and four assists.
After B1 Ballers trimmed the deficit to 46-44 early in the fourth quarter, Willis responded with a 3-pointer and a layup. The AfterShocks would lead by at least five points the rest of the way, taking a 58-52 lead into the Elam Ending after a deep McGee triple and blitzing B1 Ballers 8-2 to close out the victory with a slam dunk by Jordan Parks.
“That was a really cool experience,” said Parks, who finished with six points, five rebounds and five assists. “It’s especially special when you get that same type of love as the guys who played here. The crowd still supported us, even though some of us didn’t go here. So as a player, that’s something that you’re always going to appreciate.”
Even with a rare off-shooting performance from star guard Conner Frankamp, who finished 2-for-9 from the field and just 1-of-7 beyond the arc, the AfterShocks managed to survive and advance.
“Everybody knows what Conner can do,” said Willis, who scored a team-high 12 points with five rebounds and two blocks. “He’s a great player. I feel like he’s going to come out 10-for-10 (Friday) night.”
