A shorthanded Nasty Nati welcomed in Team About Billions in the opening round of the TBT Tournament at Fifth Third Arena on Friday Night.
Nasty Nati was limited to just seven players to start the game due to ongoing travel issues across the United States and a couple members still playing in the NBA Summer League. However, it is also worth noting that Troy Caupain was not available for the first quarter of this contest due to unforeseen circumstances.
Final Stats
About Billions Trevor Moore finished with a game high 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting to propel the 8th seeded underdogs to the round of 32 of this year’s TBT tournament. The former Bearcat had a career night vs some of his former teammates despite all the crazy circumstances that took place between teams.
Worth noting Moore was the only player that did not leave the About Billions bench once the brawl took place which resulted in an opportunity to have a career night vs his former teammates back in Fifth Third Arena for old times’ sake.
“No hostility on my end we going to keep going. It’s all love to Cincinnati.” Moore told reporters. “I didn’t want to be in the middle of that mess to be honest. I’ll back up my guys regardless, but I wasn’t looking to get in that mess. I’m here to play basketball and that’s it.”
Jarron Cumberland led Nasty Nati with 14 points despite starting the game 0-of17 before his first basket came early in the fourth quarter. Cumberland would go on to finish the game just 4-of-21 from the field, but willed the Cincinnati alumni team down the stretch when they needed it the most.
Woth noting that Nysier Brooks (14 points) and Coreontae DeBerry (13 points) also played huge roles for Nasty Nati. However, you could clearly sense that Nasty Nati was missing the presence of Jacob Evans, Marquez Letcher-Ellis who missed the game due to travel issues after playing in their professional games earlier this week. They also missed the presence of Tre Scott and Isaiah Miller who both were ruled out for this contest after playing in this week’s NBA Summer League.
How it Happened
Nasty Nati jumped out to an early 13-9 lead behind four quick points from Mamoudou Diarra and Nysier Brooks. Cincinnati was looking to use the size and length in the front court to disrupt the About Billions squad early. However. Nasty Nati would use that to their advantage as About Billions shot just 5-of-17 from the field including 3-of-13 from behind the arch.
Nasty Nati boosted their lead to nine after a big dunk from Octavius Ellis moments after Troy Caupain emerged from the locker room sparking a big applause from the Bearcat Faithful. However, the game quickly became chippy after former Bearcat Trevor Moore picked up three quick fouls in six minutes of action.
You could clearly sense the frustration as Jarron Cumberland started the game 0-of-9 from the field, but was taking a lot of contact for majority of the first half. However, the talking continued resulting in a double technical on Cumberland and About Billions Marlon Taylor, which quickly resulted in momentum shifting in favor of About Billions.
Around the 3:58 mark of the second quarter things escalated after Diarra drove baseline before a hard foul turned into an all-out brawl on the baseline. Both teams rushed the court to stop the madness after a major fight broke out. Diarra was issued a flagrant two for throwing a bunch, while About Billions whole bench was ejected along the way.
Both teams continued to struggle after the brawl as this quickly turned into a 6-6 match up for the final 25 minutes of this game. Nasty Nati would shoot just 28% from the first half with Jarron Cumberland behind held to just two points after starting the game 0-of-13 from the field. That was the last thing Nasty Nati needed especially without Jacob Evans was an off night from the 2023 TBT Leading scorer.
However, Nasty Nati maintaining a 30-28 lead at the break was a huge takeaway considering all things. Now the biggest question would be what adjustments they would need to make in order to push through the second half in hopes of getting to Sunday’s round of 32.
About Billions would come out of the half firing on all cylinders after a quick eleven-point run sparked a 36-30 lead forcing a Nasty Nati timeout. However, for Bearcat Trevor more responded with a quick six points to extend their lead to 42-32. The former Bearcat was starting to take control of this game and Nasty Nati was desperately looking for answers to stop the bleeding.
Nasti Nati would start to play big inside after a quick six points from Deberry but About Billions kept their foot on the gas. Nasty Nati would search for an answer despite trailing 47-36 with 3:18 remaining in the third quarter. Jarron Cumberland continued to struggle for Nasty Nati as he started 0-of-15 from the field and you could clearly sense the frustrations start to boil over for Nasty Nati with the short, trimmed roster.
Nasty Nati would find themselves in uncharted waters after a big 29-point third quarter from About Billions led by Trevor Moore who finished with 14 of those 29. Nasty Nati would need to find some sort of momentum down the final five minutes prior to the Elam Ending in hopes of surviving and advancing to the round of 32.
Despite trailing by 19, Nasty Nati sat down on defense and got stops resulting in six unanswered as they looked to push the tempo, forcing an About Billions timeout with 7:19 remaining. That was the momentum Nasty Nati quickly needed as stops turned into points on the other end. Nasty Nati trimmed the lead to seven after two hugs steals from Morman and Ellis lead to easy layups in transition.
Just like that, Nasty Nati was right back in this thing with a loud Fifth Third Arena right behind them after a quick five points from Jarron Cumberland made this a 60-56 game heading to the Elam Ending. Nasty Nati was looking to build off the late momentum in hopes of completing one of the largest comebacks in TBT History.
Nasty Nati would lock in and create havoc on the defensive end after consecutive turnovers resulted in a quick six-point exchange. Jarron Cumberland would give Nasty Nati their first lead since the first quarter as the fan favorite took over the Elam Ending. However, About Billions would have their chance to seal the deal after Deshaun Morman was Whistled for a quick foul after appearing to get a clean block on what could have been the game winning three from Moore. However, instead results in three free throws where Moore went two-for-three to make this a 67-66 game in a do or die situation.
Now for Nasty Nati, they had multiple opportunities to put this game away in the Elam Ending after three crucial misses from Octavius Ellis, who missed two easy buckets inside including an alley-oop in transition from Cumberland. Coreontae DeBerry also had a great look inside, but his hook shot just missed which resulted in a bucket on the other end for About Billions. Missed opportunities haunted Nasty Nati tonight as they failed to convert as their six-man roster ran out of gas just near the finish line unfortunately.
Tyonte Robertson would seal the deal for About Billions after draining a 28 foot three to secure their ticket to Sundays’ round of 32 as they defeated Nasty Nati 70-66. Worth noting that with About Billions victory they became the first eight seed to upset the number one seed in this year’s tournament.
Up Next
Nasty Nati’s first round departure was certainly something that caught many fans by surprise as they were favored heavily within the Cincinnati region. However, Bearcats fans will now have to wait just a couple more months until November 4th when Cincinnati kicks off their 2024-2025 season.
