Team Utah Falls Short To Eberlein Drive In TBT

WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah – The No. 8-seed Team Utah fell short of an upset when they lost to No. 1-seed Eberlein Drive in the opening round of The Basketball Tournament.

Former Utes Shaun Green and Dakari Tucker led Utah with 21 points apiece. Terrance Drisdom added 16 points.

Donald Sloan led Eberlein Drive with 20 points.

“We were trying to get the win but went away with what got us the lead,” Green said after the game.

Great Start For Utah

Team Utah had a strong start to the game, holding a ten point lead before Eberlein Drive trimmed the deficit to two points. Utah had a 25-23 lead at the end of the opening quarter.

Brandon West and Ronnie Price each had 6 points apiece, Terrance Drisdom and Shaun Green each had 5 points.

Midway through the second quarter, Eberlein Drive took the lead back.

It would be tightly contested for the rest of the second quarter with Team Utah taking a 38-36 lead at the half.

Terrance Drisdom led the way at the break with 9 points.

Crazy Elam Ending

Both teams came out in the second half on fire with Utah hitting three of their first four shots, including two triples. Eberlein Drive connected on 5 of their first seven shots.

Utah ended the period with 30 points and holding Eberlein Drive to 24 points and the Utah team had upset on the mind heading into the final quarter with a 68-60 lead.

The Elam Ending came on at the four minute mark in the fourth quarter. They take out the game clock and add eight points to the leading teams score and the first team to reach that point total wins the game. The Elam Ending target was 81 points as Utah led 73-69.

Eberlein Drive tied the game at 73 when Ronnie Price hit a big three pointer to lead 76-73.

Dakari Tucker tipped in a missed three pointer to stretch the lead to 78-75.

Donald Sloan converted the three point play to tie the game at 78.

Terrance Drisdom’s reverse layup put Team Utah up 80-78 and one point away from the upset.

Eberlein Drive’s Jerome Randle nailed two free throws to tie the game at 80.

Team Utah turned the ball over in the backcourt and gave Eberlein Drive a chance to win the game. Randle hit a three pointer to pick up the come from behind victory.

“We just got sped up and got into a hurry and the Elam Ending makes it come down to playing pickup ball,” said former Ute and Team Utah head coach Tre Smith.

“You can’t take bad shots, it doesn’t matter if you are playing the Elam Ending or with a shot clock,” he added.

Eberlein Drive will face the winner of No. 4-seed Sons of Westwood or No. 5-seed LA Cheaters in the second round on Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Maverik Center.