Darius Washington Drills Dagger To Send Memphis State Home

College Hoops, Home Page, Memphis, Uncategorized 2 comments

You really can’t make this type of stuff up. Darius Washington, Jr., the former Memphis Tiger infamously known in Memphis and throughout college basketball lore for missing 2 of 3 free throws with the Tigers trailing by 2 to Louisville in the 2005 Conference USA Championship game that was played in Memphis at FedExForum, with a birth to the NCAA Tournament on the line, hit the game winner for Team DRC against Memphis State following a furious comeback attempt in the second round of The Basketball Tournament, which has a $2 million dollar prize on the line.

WARNING: DO NOT WATCH THIS VIDEO…IT STILL HURTS

 

Flash forward 13 years, and here is Darius Washington, a native of Winter Park, Florida who is playing with in TBT with other players from the South Florida area and is an established professional basketball player overseas, knocking down the game-winner in the Elam Ending portion of the game against Memphis State, giving him a game-high 26 points.

The Memphis State team was once again led by Adonis Thomas, who continued to show off his offensive repertoire, and Will Coleman who came up with big buckets, big rebounds, and some huge blocks in the Elam Ending. Coleman finished with 23 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 blocks while Adonis finished with 18 points in an efficient game from the field, shooting 7 for 11.

Throughout most of the game, Team DRC was able to keep Memphis State at an arm’s length, maintaining a lead of 7-10 from the end of the first quarter until basically the Elam Ending, minus a quick spurt in the 2nd the pulled Memphis within 1 on this Coleman putback slam.

Darius Washington and Dominique Jones (24 points) made play after play for Team DRC and capitalized off of turnovers that were turned into easy buckets, thanks to lackadaisical passing by the Memphis guards. 2 examples of these easy scores are below, and are the exact type of plays you need to avoid in these type of games, especially with 2 Milli on the line.

MORE: MEMPHIS STATE OPENS TBT WITH A WIN

Trailing 57-71 early in the 4th quarter, after Kenny Brown came out hot for Team DRC, a 3-pointer by Wesley Witherspoon and a couple buckets by Adonis Thomas sent the game to the Elam Ending with a score of 65-76, with the target score being set at 83.

Willie Kemp got the scoring started with a goaltending call on his layup attempt, which was followed by a Will Coleman block on the defensive end, but Willie was called for an offensive foul when he hit Brown with an elbow to the face. Former UCF big man, Keith Clanton, scored a bucket on the block making the score 78-67, before a Chris Crawford 3 pulled Memphis State within 8. Crawford finished with 14 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists. 

Coleman once again got a block on the other end, but this time Adonis got caught between wanting to pull up for 3 and taking it to the rim, resulting in the 12th turnover for the squad from Memphis and the 10th steal for DRC. Luckily, Clanton travelled on the ensuing possession, leading to another CC deep ball which brought the score to 78-73, before another Team DRC turnover led to 2 free throw makes by Coleman, 78-75.

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Washington and Spoon then traded baskets, 80-77, before Memphis got a stop and another opportunity but Thomas couldn’t finish a layup in transition. Dominique Jones, the 25th overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft by the Dallas Mavericks and 2011 NBA Champion, answered with one of his many floaters of the game, but Clutch Chris Crawford came back down and nailed another triple, leading to a DRC timeout with the score at 82-80, setting up Washington’s final dagger after pump-faking Thomas and floating his shot over an outstretched arm of Spoon.

It was good to watch the former Tigers once again and to see them represent for the Memphis Basketball Program in such a good manner. The Memphis squad was just a couple plays away from advancing to the Sweet 16 of TBT and you have to think they will continue to enter quality teams in The Tournament.

Here’s another Will Coleman dunk off a pass from Crawford for old time’s sake.

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(Photos and Videos belong to The Basketball Tournament)

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