The AfterShocks have done it.
Wichita State’s team of alumni has survived the six-game summer gauntlet that is The Basketball Tournament to claim their first crown and $1 million grand prize.
“Six long years of doing this,” head coach Zach Bush said. “Just incredibly thankful for these guys. I know we didn’t win an NBA championship or anything, but this is pretty special, man.”
In Sunday afternoon’s championship game, they outlasted Eberlein Drive, 82-67, in front of a TBT championship game record crowd of 9,029 fans. The number of attendees at Sunday’s game broke their own record in Koch Arena from 2023.
“It was unbelievable,” forward Markis McDuffie said. “It felt like when I was back at Wichita State playing, just to see it. And I’m so happy for the other guys who didn’t play here to see it.”
Over the last few weeks, a team with only four former Shockers came together as one for the $1 million payday. Not only that, but they all took time out of their offseasons overseas to make it happen.
“They get essentially eight to 10 to 12 weeks back home,” Bush said. “And for them to choose to spend three-plus of it here every summer shows how much this place means to them. And it shows what they mean to each other, how much they care.
“Obviously, the money was always the goal, and it’s sweet. But, we’ll forever cherish these guys for the sacrifices they made to be here for each other.”
Throughout the game, the AfterShocks better distributed the ball, as they tallied 20 assists to Eberlein Drive’s six. And even though they turned the ball over more times than Eberlein Drive, the AfterShocks forced turnovers in critical situations.
During the Elam Ending alone, center Marcus Santos-Silva came up with a block and steal on back-to-back possessions that resulted in shots to set up the final basket in the Elam Ending.
“We didn’t turn them over a ton,” Bush said. “But it felt like the times that we did, they were massive.”
It took Eberlein Drive less than a minute into the game to know what the 9,029 fans rocking in the Roundhouse felt like, as they were raucous from the opening tipoff. But they never backed down, as they found answers any time it looked like the AfterShocks were going to turn a championship game showdown into a championship game beatdown in the first half.
When the AfterShocks took a 12-point lead in the first quarter, Eberlein Drive clawed back within a point at the end of it, 21-20.
In the second quarter, Eberlein Drive silenced the crowd following a 12-0 AfterShocks scoring run with a 3-pointer and later hit another three at the end of the period to keep the AfterShocks from going up by double-digits at halftime, 46-37.
Guard Marcus Keene led all scorers at the break with 18 points, and the AfterShocks shot 68% from the floor, but they threw the ball away nine times. Those nine turnovers resulted in 13 points for Eberlein Drive.
“We felt like we kind of got them going and got them back into that half when we could have opened it up a little bit more,” Bush said. “We just made decisions that we don’t normally make, and we just needed to calm down. I think the crowd gets us going, too. Naturally, you want to make the play.”
Both the third and fourth quarters became championship game shootouts, as the teams played tit-for-tat throughout the second half. As the game headed into the Elam Ending, the AfterShocks held on to a 74-64 lead, with the target score set at 82.
Eberlein Drive struck first in the Elam Ending, but the AfterShocks rallied for three quick buckets and two huge blocks to set up the game winner.
For the third time in this tournament, it was Keene who hammered the nail in the coffin with a pair of free throws. The 2016-17 NCAA scoring leader said he could’ve made them in his sleep.
“Two free throws at the line for the money, for the game,” Keene said. “I knew I was hitting those. We weren’t even playing anymore.”
The AfterShocks turned the ball over just twice in the second half, which was Bush’s main emphasis during the break.
“Had to settle in a little bit,” he said. “Fortunately, in the second half, the guys made great decisions.”
After the game was over, McDuffie led the team in the “McDuffie Slide” for one final time. The 2019 Wichita State graduate said winning the tournament was the greatest moment of his life.
“It was epic,” he said. “Just to do it in front of the Wichita State fans, it really means a lot to me.”
