COLUMBUS, Ohio –– Carmen’s Crew saw its million-dollar dream dashed in Columbus on Tuesday night, as a late-game collapse allowed The Money Team to come back from a double-digit fourth-quarter deficit to secure a 2-point win.

Former Rhode Island guard Xavier Munford led the charge for the No. 5 seed TMT, scoring 18 of his 22 points in the second half and pulling up to hit the game-winner over Jon Diebler and top-seeded Carmen’s Crew to win the game 91-89.

Carmen's Crew had been up by as many as 18 points in the second half.

"I love these guys. It's fun to do this, fun to get in front of our fans," Diebler said. "I think that's what hurts the most man, the crowd really brought it tonight."

Despite an 8-point lead at the start of the Elam Ending, Carmen’s Crew was the victim of an 8-0 run by The Money Team, which included two 3-pointers. Kosta Koufos and David Lighty stopped the bleeding momentarily with a 4-0 run, but TMT came back to take the lead 88-87, just three points from a victory.

Koufos scored again to put Carmen’s Crew ahead 89-88, but Munford was fouled on the other end and hit a free throw and a subsequent jumper to win it. TBT rules give possession of the ball back to the fouled team after a free throw during the Elam Ending.

William Buford, who led Carmen’s Crew with 12 points in the first half, played only a couple minutes in the second half as he appeared to injure his ankle earlier in the action.

Koufos led the way with 18 points for Carmen’s Crew, Buford finished with 15 and Lighty added 14 of his own.

Despite being up 13 early in the fourth, Carmen’s Crew allowed TMT to make a late run, as a 3 from former Idaho guard Jeff Ledbetter cut the lead to just five points with the Elam Ending set at 91 thereafter.

"You gotta tip your hat to them, they hit some big shots, they came back," Diebler said. "A lot of teams would've quit being down what they were down, and they kept playing."

It appeared to be one-way traffic midway through the third quarter, when Evan Ravenel and Keyshawn Woods hit back-to-back triples to extend the Carmen’s Crew lead to 17 with 3:36 to go in the period, but a TMT buzzer-beater cut the lead to 12 points heading into the final period, as it had its best quarter of the game with 26 points to match Carmen’s Crew.

Carmen’s Crew left the door open early in the second half with a couple turnovers, but quickly found its rhythm again as it pushed the pace to great effect on a number of possessions.

There was no first half shooting slump for Carmen’s Crew on Tuesday, as the team put up 50 points in the first two quarters on 65.5 percent shooting –– including 6-of-11 from 3 –– to send TMT to the locker room down 12 at intermission.

David Lighty put an exclamation point on the impressive half with a corner 3 before the buzzer on a pass from Aaron Craft that prompted a standing ovation from the hometown crowd.

It wouldn't be enough though, as Munford and The Money Team move on to Dayton to face Buffalo alumni team Blue Collar U in the quarterfinal round of The Basketball Tournament.

Craft, a long-time fan favorite for Buckeye fans, confirmed after the loss that this would be his final run in TBT.

"I don't feel sad or angry. I feel happy they were gracious enough to let me play again," Craft said. "Definitely didn't have to, but they let me come back and hang out. I'm just grateful. I had a great couple weeks, it was fun practicing, playing games again. A couple times out there it felt like old times, so gave me a nice little boost heading into school again."

Craft was not the only former Buckeye to hang up his sneakers after the game though. Diebler, who had six points on 2-of-7 shooting from 3 on Tuesday, also said he is retiring from the sport of basketball.

"This is it for me. I'm done playing basketball," Diebler said. "I've been telling the guys that for like the last three months, but no one believed me, so I guess it's official now."

Diebler said the goal is to keep Carmen's Crew alive years down the line though, and Craft said he thinks "anyone is on the table" in terms of other former Buckeyes that could be part of the team moving forward.