INDIANAPOLIS — Assembly Ball, Indiana’s alumni team competing in The Basketball Tournament, is going home early.
The team with 11 former Hoosiers on the roster saw its game against Fail Harder slip away in the second half, ending in an 89-76 defeat at Butler’s Hinkle Fieldhouse on Saturday.
Assembly Ball led for most of the first half, largely because of a big foul disparity — AB took a 12-2 edge in free-throw attempts into halftime. But once that started to even out in the second half, Assembly Ball’s poor shooting numbers and Fail Harder’s strong clips proved the difference. AB finished the game shooting 37.5 percent as a team, while FH shot 57.1 percent.
Al Durham carried Assembly Ball early in the game, racking up 10 points in the first quarter. He finished the game with a team-high 23 points on 5 for 10 shooting. VMI alum QJ Peterson helped keep AB in the game with seven points in the third quarter, and ended with 20 points on a 7-of-18 clip, and he led the team with eight rebounds and four assists.
But it wasn’t enough. UIndy alum Darius Adams torched Assembly Ball in the second half, with 16 points after halftime and 21 total for the game.
Three other former IU players saw action on Saturday.. Race Thompson shot 4 for 9 for nine points. Jordan Hulls recorded one rebound in his four minutes. And Juwan Morgan shot 1 for 3 for three points.
Yogi Ferrell and James Blackmon Jr. missed the game while working through injuries. Ferrell dressed in uniform and warmed up before the game, but Blackmon wore street clothes on the bench. Noah Vonleh and Miller Kopp were on the roster, but they had not yet arrived to be with the team.
Fail Harder advances to the second round on Monday evening to take on Butler’s alumni team, All Good Dawgs.
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