Team Colorado Advances To TBT Championship Game

NEW YORK — Team Colorado is now one win away from a $2 million payday.

Former Colorado star Marcus Hall scored 25 points Saturday to lead Team Colorado to a 78-70 win over Always A Brave and send the team of ex-Buffs into the championship game of The Basketball Tournament.

Team Colorado will meet defending TBT champion Overseas Elite in Tuesday's 5 p.m. nationally televised game (ESPN). Overseas Elite defeated City of Gods, 103-92, in Saturday's second semifinals.

"It's not about the money," Hall said after Saturday's win in Fordham University's gymnasium. "It's about representing our school."

The team of former Buffs did an outstanding job of that on Saturday, coming back from an early 7-0 deficit to take a 31-27 halftime lead. Team Colorado then kept the team of former Bradley players at bay for the entirety of the second half for the former Buffs' fifth win in the tournament.

Marcus Relphorde added 20 points for Team Colorado while Dominique Coleman had 15 rebounds and six assists.

Hall, a legitimate candidate for tournament MVP, and Relphorde had big buckets all afternoon at key moments for Colorado. Hall started an 8-0 run late in the second half with a 3-pointer and Levi Knutson put the topper on with another trey as Team Colorado stretched its lead to 11, 60-49.

Team Colorado then withstood a late Always A Brave push, getting another 3-pointer from Hall with just more than 2 minutes to go, followed by two Austin Dufault free throws, a Knutson drive and two Relphorde free throws.

Relphorde, who played on the Tad Boyle-coached CU team that advanced to the 2011 NIT semifinals, had a personal 8-0 run in the first half that broke a 22-22 tie and gave Colorado the lead for good.

Team Colorado is made up of players from three eras of CU coaches: Ricardo Patton, Jeff Bzdelik and Boyle.

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