PRO BASKETBALL:
Monarch Nation, a team primarily comprised of former Old Dominion players, defeated the Hilltop Dawgs 72-59 with a strong fourth quarter at VCU’s Siegel Center to advance to the round of 32 in The Basketball Tournament.
Ex-ODU standout post player Frank Hassell and former LSU guard Bo Spencer lead Monarch Nation with 14 points apiece
Monarch Nation, seeded eighth in the South Region, advanced to a 2:40 p.m. Sunday game against top-seeded Overseas Elite, the three-time defending champion.
The tournament champion’s players and connections will split $2 million in the winner-take-all event.
The Dawgs, primarily including former Maryland Baltimore County players, cut a 36-26 halftime deficit to 52-51 at the end of the third nine-minute quarter and went ahead early in the fourth.
But, down 56-54, Monarch Nation scored 10 straight points to take control. Hassell’s follow gave his team the lead for good, 58-56, with 6:46 showing.
The Dawgs hit a free throw to make it 64-57 before the clock stopped under the 4-minute mark, setting up the “Elam Ending” — in which the game clock is off and the first team to reach seven points beyond the leader’s score (in this case, 71) wins. That’s the case for every TBT game.
Three free throws by Spencer made it 70-59, and Hassell sank a right-wing jumper to end the game.
Later Saturday, No. 2 South seed VCU Ram Nation delighted most of the largest crowd in TBT history (2,809) by defeating the No. 15 Tampa 20/20 team 86-72. The team of mostly former Rams dominated the first half before occasionally playing lackluster basketball in the second half.
Brandon Rozzell, a European pro who was a major part of VCU’s run to the 2011 Final Four, scored a game-high 21 points, including six 3-pointers, though two other key contributors for Ram Nation didn’t attend VCU.
Reggie Williams, a lefty from Prince George High and VMI who spent occasional time in the NBA, had 17 points to begin his second year with Ram Nation. James Farr, a former Xavier player who’s one of three newcomers in the post for Ram Nation, added 16 points.
Ram Nation will play at 4:30 p.m. Sunday against Atlanta Dirty South, which trailed almost all night before upending Purple and Black, primarily a Kansas State alumni team, 76-74 in the late game.
Bernard Parks sank a game-ending 3-pointer from the left wing for Dirty South, whose best-known player could be former Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket Glen Rice Jr..
LITTLE LEAGUE:
Warwick dropped a 10-3 decision to Louisa Saturday morning and was eliminated in the state Major softball tournament in Luray. Friday, Warwick lost 12-0 to Tazewell.
Meanwhile, Mathews followed Friday’s 11-4 victory over Norton with a 14-0 defeat against Tazewell. Mathews will play an elimination game at 10:30 a.m. Sunday against Louisa.
BASEBALL:
Coastal Plain League:
The Peninsula Pilots (23-11) scored three times in the 11th inning to overcome the host Martinsville Mustangs 4-2.
Under tie-breaking rules, the Pilots began the top of the 11th with runners on first and second base. Tucker Maxwell’s single and an error allowed both runners to score, and Maxwell made it 4-1 by scoring when Justin Cook grounded into a double play.
The Mustangs’ final run came home on Joe Boyle’s sacrifice fly in the 11th.
Pilots starter Clyde Yoder yielded one run and four hits in five innings. Nolan Flachofsky and Ryan Erickson each pitched a scoreless inning before winner Eric Mullet worked the final four, striking out five and yielding no hits.
PILOTS 4, MUSTANGS 2, 11 INNINGS
Peninsula 000 001 000 03 — 4 5 0
Martinsville 010 000 000 01 — 2 4 3
WP: Mullet (1-0). LP: Evans (0-2). Standouts: Peninsula, Mullet (yielded 0 hits, struck out 5 in 4 IP), Maxwell 2-5 (2 runs); Martinsville, Morgensen 1-4 (1 run), Domingo (yielded 3 hits, struck out 8 in 8 IP).
International League:
The Gwinnett Stripers edged the Norfolk Tides 4-3 at Harbor Park.
Former Tides outfielder Xavier Avery was 3 for 3 with a run to lead the Stripers (40-52), Atlanta’s top affiliate.
The Tides’ John Means yielded three runs on six hits in six innings. Teammate Cedric Mullis doubled and singled — both off former Brookwood High (Ga.) teammate Lucas Sims — to extend his hitting streak to 14 games, the longest by a Tide this season.
Rubén Tejada doubled, singled, scored a run and drove in another for the Tides (47-43).
The Stripers scored an unearned run in the seventh off Francisco Jimenez (0-1) to take the lead.
Elian Leyva (1-1) earned the win with 2 2/3 innings of relief for the Stripers, with Jacob Webb picking up the save by throwing a scoreless ninth.
Earlier Saturday, the Orioles recalled catcher Austin Wynns from Norfolk to take the roster spot of Chance Sisco, who was optioned to the Tides on Friday night.
Sean Gilmartin made his Tides debut, allowing a hit and picking up a strikeout in two-thirds of an inning.
Eastern League:
The Trenton Thunder (51-40) scored five runs in the first inning and made them hold up for a 5-3 victory over the Richmond Flying Squirrels (44-46) in New Jersey.
Dylan Davis homered and scored twice for the Squirrels, who saw Dan Slania, Carlos Diaz, Ryan Halstead and Patrick Ruotolo pitched shutout relief after a nightmarish start for Chase Johnson, who didn’t get out of the first.
TENNIS:
Will Thompson of Richmond (boys 16-and-under), Zachary Fleishman of Glen Allen (boys 14s) and Olivia Danielson of Norfolk (girls 16s) earned age-group championships on the first day of the Tennis Recruiting Network’s Newport News Open on Christopher Newport’s hard courts.
Thompson beat Drew Campbell of Henrico 6-3, 7-6 (7-5), Danielson shut out Elaine Sharpe of Williamsburg 6-0, 6-0, and Fleishman beat Patrick Stiles of Norfolk 6-3, 6-1.
The other titles will be decided Sunday, starting at 9 a.m.
