Sometimes, winning is anything but pretty.
Like Sunday night, when the AfterShocks pulled out a gritty 74-68 win against Heartfire in the quarterfinals of The Basketball Tournament (TBT).
To earn the win, it took tough defense and scrappy rebounds. It took a crowd of nearly 5,000 people that shouted after stops and made shots. It took a team that fired on all cylinders.
“It was intense,” guard James Woodard said. “Because we knew how important this game was to get to the next round, and also from the history of this matchup. We knew it was going to be a tough game, and we’re just glad to get the win.”
For the game to play out that way, however, was fitting. A little over two years ago to the day, the AfterShocks’ tournament in 2023 ended in the same round by the same team.
“It left a really bad taste in your mouth when you get beat by 20 on your home floor,” head coach Zach Bush said. “And that night, we had a record crowd two years ago, and it just didn’t feel like we played well.”
But that was two years ago. This year’s team showed it can run much deeper than then.
“We have 10-deep, you know,” forward Markis McDuffie said. “Anybody could come in and help. I was real confident coming in here, just because of the guys and their will to win.”
With the win, the AfterShocks secured their spot in the semifinals against We Are D3. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday, July 27, in front of a Koch Arena crowd that has proven capable of creating a real home court advantage.
“They make such an impact, man,” Bush said. “They love these guys. They love good basketball, and when you put that on the floor, they respond.”
Defense has been the name of the game for the AfterShocks throughout this year’s tournament run. They’ve had opponents in a vice grip when shooting, allowing just 39.8% of shots and 25.9% of 3-pointers to fall. The AfterShocks have allowed 62.5 points per game, and of this year’s quarterfinalists, they rank first in margin of rebounds at 7.8 per game.
“It’s been a reason why we’ve made it this far, to be honest,” McDuffie said. “A lot of these good players we’re playing against, a lot of these good teams, we’re making them look as if it’s not easy. Like, I haven’t seen a team really go on a crazy run with us.”
The AfterShocks knew coming into Sunday’s game what kind of scorers and shot creators Heartfire had on deck. They ended up forcing 37 misses from them for the night.
McDuffie said right away that they were going to coerce tough shots. During the second quarter, the AfterShocks held Heartfire to 4-of-15 shooting and backed it in the third by allowing just 7-of-19 attempts.
“And they struggled to hit those tough shots,” McDuffie said. “We didn’t let them get into transition too much, so I think we did everything right.”
As the AfterShocks’ defense set the tone, their offense remained a balanced attack. Four players eclipsed double-digit scoring, with Keene dropping a team-high 15 points on 5-of-12 shooting with five assists. Off the bench, Woodard drained 5-of-9 shots for 12 points and snagged six boards.
They tallied 15 assists and turned the ball over six times, good for a 2.5 assist-to-turnover ratio.
“The biggest thing was we stayed out of transition in live-ball turnover situations,” Bush said. “The guys handled the basketball beautifully. Only six turnovers to 15 assists, so more than double the assist-to-turnover ratio. It was just massive.”
Game recap
The AfterShocks raced to a five-point lead in the first quarter after a McDuffie three, but Heartfire responded and took a 14-12 lead with less than three minutes left in the period. Two buckets off the bench from forward Chevez Goodwin late in the opening period kept the AfterShocks in the game as they trailed at the end of it, 18-16.
A 10-1 AfterShocks scoring run over the first five minutes of the second quarter allowed them to retake the lead, 26-19. During the run, Woodard, Keene, and forward Rashard Kelly each hit shots that erupted the fans in Koch Arena.
Heartfire responded with a 9-0 run of their own to retake a slim advantage, but late free throws and a guard Nike Sibande 3-pointer gave the AfterShocks the lead at halftime, 33-30.
Every made shot and defensive stop to open the third quarter was met by louder and louder applause and cheers from the AfterShocks’ crowd, as they took a nine-point lead roughly midway through. By the end of the quarter, the AfterShocks’ advantage rose to a game-high 12 points, and they hung on to a double-digit lead, 56-46.
A driving layup by Keene in the fourth quarter extended the AfterShocks’ lead to 11 points, but a nearly two-minute scoring drought right after allowed Heartfire to cut the lead to seven, 61-54. The AfterShocks regained their 11-point lead later in the quarter, but Heartfire cut the lead to six points headed into the Elam Ending, 66-60, with the target score of 74 set for both teams.
Three layups in the Elam Ending set up the shot to call the game for the AfterShocks, and Sibande answered.
He sized up his defender, and with a hesitation move to the right, blew by the defense but missed the layup off the side of the backboard. As if it were a pass to himself, he grabbed the rebound and put up the game-winning shot again — this time, it hit the glass and rolled off the front iron before going in.
