COLUMBUS, Ohio – The professional basketball career of Aaron Craft has come to a conclusion in unceremonious fashion as Carmen's Crew was knocked out of its first game of the TBT (The Basketball Tournament) as an upset-minded House of 'Paign (Illinois alumni team) shocked the defending champions 76-68.
Craft was held to just four points, scoring the first two of the game as well as a bucket that was part of a Carmen's Crew 16-2 first-half run. Craft would leave the game due to injury in the third quarter but would not remain out for long with the potential of this being his last professional game.
Sadly, for Ohio State fans, it ended up being his last hurrah.
"It is sad. It is tough," Craft said postgame. "Obviously, most people don’t go out how they hope to, but sometimes it happens. Had an opportunity again to play with these guys, TBT gave me that and I am thankful. It is tough."
David Lighty led Ohio State with 21 points, scoring 14 of Ohio State's final 24 points of the game. Jon Dielber would be the only other member of Carmen's Crew to score in double figures with 11 points.
Deshaun Thomas would be a non-factor in this game with just one point on 0-4 shooting from the floor. William Buford would only put up six points, going 2-10 from the floor and 2-6 from beyond the arc. Carmen's Crew would also have to do it without Jeff Gibbs, who was held to just two minutes of action as he entered the tournament nursing an injury and could not answer the bell on Wednesday.
Former star at South Dakota State Mike Daum led all scorers with 23 points and was 8-10 from the floor on the day. Ohio State faced him during the NCAA Tournament a couple of years ago and saw him score 27 points in that game.
"Give them a ton of credit, they played great," Craft said. "They came out hot, figured that would happen. We did a good job of fighting back."
Kyle Vinales would hit the final bucket of the game and had 16 points for the visiting team.
"They played better than us," Diebler said. "We missed some good looks in the second half. You have to give those guys props, they played hard the whole game. Even when we took the lead, they played hard. They played better than us today."
Carmen's Crew would spot an 11-point lead in the first half as the Illinois-alum team would open up a 31-20 lead. Things would turn around on the strangest of sequences when DIebler would be awarded a three-pointer on goaltending, a foul would occur away from the ball, award the ball back to Carmen's Crew and then Diebler would hit another three-pointer to account for the rare six-point possession.
Diebler would stay hot and nail another three-pointer to give Carmen's Crew the first lead in some time, 37-35.
The second half was a different story and it was obvious that the Illinois-alum team was the more aggressive tam as it went the line for nine free throw attempts to Carmen's Crew's zero.
It did not take long for House of 'Paign to knot up the score, doing so at the 50-all mark at the free throw line.
Former Illini star, playing for Carmen's Crew, Demetri McCamey did what he could and would give Carmen's Crew a brief lead after a jumper to put the home team up by a bucket, but Carmen's Crew would find itself outscored 26-12 the rest of the way.
The question now is what is in the future for Carmen's Crew, a team that came together largely to honor former Ohio State head coach Thad Matta. Craft has already announced his retirement, but is there a chance that he could reconsider?
"I don’t know man, there are a lot of thoughts in my mind right now, a lot of emotions," Craft said postgame. "They might not even want me back, might be out of shape, move worse than this year."
You would have to expect there would be a spot for him if he wants to come back. There will be a spot for him even if he doesn't want to as members of the team might try and do a sell job on him for one more run.
"We will talk to him" Diebler said.
