The Super 16 is the end of the line for A Few Good Men

For the second year in a row, A Few Good Men were eliminated from The Basketball Tournament in the Super 16, this time falling to Team Challenge ALS 77-60 during an afternoon tilt in Brooklyn.

While A Few Good Men is known as the unofficial Gonzaga squad, it was non-Zag Jannero Pargo who led the team in scoring with 21 points. Steven Gray followed up his twin 30+ point performances during last weekend’s games with 10 points on 4-9 shooting. Jeremy Pargo was the only other player to score double figures for the team as he finished with 13 points on 4-14 shooting. Mike Hart led the team in floor burns.

Austin Daye chipped in 5 points in 20 minutes, but he was wearing the wrong jersey as the former Zag joined up with Team Challenge ALS who will advance to the regional championship game against 4th-seeded Armored Athlete on Sunday afternoon. It’s unclear what the story is behind Daye playing against the Zags rather than with them, but I don’t think he would have swung the game much if he was playing for the right team.

The two teams exchanged jabs for the better part of the first half, but A Few Good Men were unable to string any significant runs together and failed to create any distance from their opponents. Eventually, it was Team Challenge ALS that put the game away with a 16-3 run midway through the second half.

A Few Good Men was down former Pepperdine/San Diego State forward Malcolm Thomas who played with the team last weekend, and his absence was felt as the team was outscored in the paint 34-14. Should the Gonzaga-led squad hope to progress further next year, interior reinforcements may be at the top of the wish list.

While it’s certainly disappointing for another TBT run to end without a crack at the final weekend, it’s hard to be upset about losing to a team playing for a good cause as Team Challenge ALS is playing to raise funds to support those battling the tough disease.

The guys on A Few Good Men now have some unwanted free time in New York with the sudden end of their tournament run.

For the rest of us, Gonzaga basketball will be back in three months.