House of ‘Paign knock off top-seeded Carmen’s Crew, clinch quarterfinals berth

COLUMBUS, Ohio — It shouldn’t be legal to have these flurries of emotion in July.

The Illin— err, House of ‘Paign waltzed into Columbus, Ohio and dethroned the reigning champs — this year’s TBT No. 1 seed — Carmen’s Crew, 76-68, in dramatic fashion on Wednesday afternoon.

Despite a slow start for both House of ‘Paign and Carmen’s Crew, it was evident from the jump that this wasn’t going to be your typical 1 vs. 16 matchup. HoP took a 10-9 lead into the first media timeout thanks to a pair of Malcolm Hill & Nnanna (yes, Nnanna) Egwu threes, but neither team seemed was settled in. Mike LaTulip’s squad put together a solid run to bust open a multi-possession lead right before the end of the first quarter, 19-15.

HoP kept the hot shooting alive in the second with Andres Feliz (15 points, 8 rebounds) and Central Connecticut alum Kyle Vinales also cashing in from deep. They would build a lead as large as 11 before Carmen’s Crew went on a 24-8 run to end the half. The ever-pesky Jon Diebler spearheaded the turn of the tide with a solo six-point possession, and former Illini and Carmen’s Crew reserve Demetri McCamey knocking down a couple three-pointers of his own.

In a back-and-forth third quarter, it was productive bench minutes from Michael Finke and Kyle Vinales (16 points) that proved to be the difference. LaTulip made it a priority to get to the rim because HoP ramped up the aggressiveness and took a 58-56 edge into the final quarter.

Trailing by one with a minute until the Elam Ending, HoP followed up with a Hill layup and Mike Daum (23 points, 8 rebounds) three to jump ahead 68-64 and give this Round of 16 matchup a target score of 76. It was all HoP from that point out. Vinales added six in stoppage time, Daum hammered one home baseline, and then, it was Vinales again that gave House of ‘Paign the game-winning floater and moved the Illinois alumni onto the next round, 76-68.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED

THE ENTIRE THIRD QUARTER: After getting off to that big lead early in the first half, HoP went into the ‘locker rooms’ trailing. But House of ‘Paign went on a 15-2 run in third, carrying a lead into the fourth.

DAUMINATION: Down 64-63 with about five minutes left, House of ‘Paign turned to its big guns to take the lead into the Elam Ending. Andres Feliz led a transition bucket by Malcolm Hill, and Mike Daum hit a three-pointer right before the 4-minute mark to give HoP a 68-64 lead.

YOU GOTTA SEE THIS

Momma,

there

goes

that

man.

TWEET OF THE GAME

SOUND SMART

Andres Feliz scored at least 17 points only twice in Big Ten play during his senior season for Illinois. In two TBT games, Feliz has passed that mark twice.

UP NEXT

After knocking off The Basketball Tournament’s top seed, House of ‘Paign has No. 8 Red Scare coming up Friday afternoon, with a trip to Sunday’s Final Four on the line.

Red Scare is composed of mostly Dayton University alumni, a program that would have been a No. 1 seed in the 2020 NCAA Tournament.

Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. CT on ESPN.