Boeheim’s Army advances past North Broad Street Bullies, 86-82

PHILADELPHIA — Brandon Triche flung the ball up in the air as he strutted toward the foul line with just over a second left, two foul shots ahead of him and the game virtually sealed. He had just skied for the most important rebound of the game that was separated by only two points for the final minutes.

Triche hit both and second-seeded Boeheim’s Army escaped with an 86-82 victory over No. 7 seed North Broad Street Bullies, a group of Temple alumni. Boeheim’s Army advances to the Super 16, where they’ll face The Untouchables (Pittsburgh alumni) on Thursday at 7 p.m. in Philadelphia.

Boeheim’s Army jumped out to a 10-2 lead for the second time in less than 24 hours, courtesy of a pair of Hakim Warrick fadeaway jumpers, a Triche 3 and an Eric Devendorf lay-in. Devendorf then had a mini-takeover, hitting a layup on top of a foul, drawing a foul and hitting a foul shot on the next possession, driving and dishing to Darryl Watkins for a layup and hitting a 3 from the top of the key to give Boeheim’s Army a 21-13 lead.

Whatever Devendorf said toward the crowd after hitting the shot, it made Terrence Roberts and C.J. Fair laugh after the North Broad Street Bullies were forced to call a timeout.

Vintage Warrick then went on a stretch of his own, throwing down a tomahawk dunk that rivaled his posterization yesterday and flying through the air to block a corner 3 – eerily similar to his game-sealer in the 2003 national title.

A pair of transition buckets by Brandon Triche and Devendorf stretched the lead to 11, but the Temple alumni cut their deficit to seven, 39-32, by the half, before beginning the second frame on an 8-0 run to take a 40-39 lead.

But courtesy of another spurt by Devendorf and a bevy of offensive rebounds by Baye Moussa Keita, Boeheim’s Army went on a 7-0 run of their own to grab a 46-40 lead. Keita had to be corralled by Devendorf after protesting a call and then by Roberts after another. “Let it go, let it go,” he told Keita, after Keita even complained about a call that went his way.

He wasn’t the offensive force of Saturday, but Keita shouldered a workman’s load down low to give Boeheim’s Army second- and third-chance opportunities and kept North Broad Street at bay. When Keita exited, Watkins took over down low, grabbing offensive boards and putting one back in to widen the lead after the Temple alumni cut it to two.

With 29.2 seconds left and Boeheim’s Army still leading by only two, they called a timeout but were unable to get a shot off before the shot clock expired. The Temple alumni weren’t able to capitalize on their final possession, keeping the dream of $2 million alive for the Syracuse alumni.