Charleston – Herd That looked overwhelmed early in its TBT opener Saturday afternoon.
The size of Team DRC was daunting for the Marshall alumni early.
They figured it out before long.
Conference USA all-time leading scorer Jon Elmore dazzled as a scorer and a distributor, notching 21 points and dishing five assists, guiding Herd That to a 85-76 Saturday at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.
“We’re a fairly new team,” Elmore said. “We incorporated a lot of new guys this year. We had a brief training camp but nothing simulates the game we play. It was a little bit of a learning process as we went along but we had spurts where we looked phenomenal but we got stagnant a few times for a few stretches there. Ultimately in this thing you’ve just got to grind out wins. Survive and advance and I’m proud of our guys.”
DRC had its way in the paint early, utilizing its height advantage to go up 10-4 in the opening minutes. A jumper and a teardrop floater from Stevie Browning gave Herd That its first lead at 12-10, but a DRC 3-pointer quickly erased it.
Enter Elmore.
A 3 from the 2018 Marshall grad sparked an 11-0 run run which also saw the talented guard find Ronald Delph and Derek Cooke Jr. for back-to-back alley oops
Elmore took a hard foul right before the clock expired in the first quarter and sat out at the beginning of the second frame, though it made little difference for Herd That as it led by nine points after the first and second quarters.
“I think I shot the ball a little bit better afterwards,” Elmore joked.
The game got spicier in the third.
Team DRC slashed the deficit to a point in the frame, but Elmore was there again to answer the call.
Following a 3 from DRC’s Tyshawn Taylor that made it 49-48, Elmore answered with a 3 followed by a layup. His efforts helped Herd That reestablish a double-digit lead with another 3 and a floater capping a 13-point quarter for the guard. When the smoke cleared the Marshall alum led 71-58, but the game was far from in hand.
“With our style of play – Coach (Dan) D’Antoni’s style, our philosophy is everybody eats,” Elmore said. “We don’t want to slow the game down and we don’t want to get stagnant for multiple plays. We want to showcase our guys and put our guys in advantageous situations.”
Team DRC made a run again, cutting the deficit back to four by the four minute mark, keeping itself within striking distance for the elam ending – where the clock is turned off and a target score is set, usually eight points more than what the leading team has. The target score for both teams was 85.
Herd That had little trouble reaching it, limiting DRC to just three points. Free throws from Jacory Williams, who scored a game-high 23 points, and a floater from Stevie Browning set up the dramatic finish. Williams, on the fast break, missed a layup attempt but a put-back dunk by Greenbrier East grad Rondale Watson sealed the deal for Herd That, sending the Marshall alum to the round of 32.
Greenbrier East’s Rondale Watson sends @TBT_Herd_That to the second round of The Basketball Tournament. Herd That wins 85-76. pic.twitter.com/GPa9ZF8HNf
— Tyler Jackson (@TJack94) July 17, 2021
Herd That will play the winner of Saturday’s game between Georgia Kingz and Team 23 on Monday in the Charleston Coliseum. The time is yet to be announced.