TBT Photo Gallery And Recap

The 2025 TBT team, The Ville, was back after making a strong run in the 2024 TBT tourney. This years edition looked to be a loaded roster. The first roster released included – Russ Smith – Montrezl Harrell – Peyton Siva – David Johnson – Earl Clark – Chris Jones – Chane Behanan – Ray Spalding – Jay Scrubb – David Sloan – Luke Hancock (Coach). By game 1 we learned Ray Spalding tweaked his back and would not be playing. We also learned that Malik Williams was a very late addition to the team. He actually showed up a few hours before the first game. And I guess a lot of fans missed the memo that there was never any intent of Peyton Siva playing. However it was fun to hear all of Freedom Hall chanting ” We want Siva.”

Game 1 was against Boston vs Cancer. Your starting 5 consisted of Jones, Scrubb, Clark, Johnson and Harrell. Montrezl Harrell led all scorers with 25 points. He also had 12 rebounds and 3 steals. Clark was the only starter who didn’t score in double digits. Chane Behanan was his usual self chipping in with 5 rebounds, 4 being offensive, and added 8 points off the bench. The Ville shot 42% from the field and 32% from three. The two biggest differences in the game were second chance points and points in the paint. The Ville tallied 24 second chance points to Boston’s 14. The Ville also managed 30 points in the paint to Boston’s 10. The Ville advanced to the second round with a 91-71 victory.

Game 2 was against Sideline Cancer. It was a second round rematch from last year where The Ville won 71-69. Sideline Cancer was out for blood from the start. The Ville’s starting five included Jones, Scrubb, Johnson, Harrell and Slazinski (Earl Clark was playing in the Big 3 tourney in Detroit and wasn’t in Freedom Hall). The Ville was cold from the floor, especially from three (18.5%). Sideline Cancer was quite the opposite. At one point they were shooting 76% from three, but ended up shooting 57%. They also shot 54% from the field. The Ville trailed 47-28 at half. They played a furious style of defense in the second half, led by Chris Jones, in an attempt to make a comeback. The Ville got the lead down to five points when Malik Williams missed a layup that led to a three on the other end. So, instead of being down three, they trailed by eight. After that, Sideline Cancer had an answer for every attempt at a comeback The Ville could throw at them and ultimately eliminated The Ville 73-63.

After Sideline Cancer hit the game winner, they rushed to the opposite end of the court to talk smack to the current University of Louisville basketball team (not sure why) who were seated in the front row of the baseline. However, seated on the floor in front of them was a row of photographers. The Sideline Cancer team had their emotions boil over and ended up stepping on some of the photographers. I happened to be sitting in that row of photographers. I moved my gear in time to avoid damage, but at least one photographer suffered scrapes and bruises from being stepped on. Afterwards, we asked some of the team to apologize to the female photographers that almost got trampled. While a couple of their players apologized and offered to pay for any damages (Chris Coffey), there were a couple players who said “F__k Louisville” (Josh Cohen). While I understand beating The Ville in their City in front of a large energetic crowd as a revenge game is emotional, these are men and should act like it. These are not college kids. Act like you’ve been there before and win with class.

Below is a photo gallery that includes a TBT practice at the Kueber Center as well as game 1 and game 2.