Team Crimson guard Keith Langford (5) steals a pass to Team Blue guard Aqib Talib (3) during the 15th annual Rock Chalk Roundball Classic at Free State High School on Thursday, June 8, 2023. Photo by Nick Krug

The two most exhilarating moments of Thursday night’s Rock Chalk Roundball Classic at Free State High School came immediately before and after the final whistle.

First, four of the six beneficiaries of the charity basketball game — the 15th annual installment of the event, founded by Kansas broadcaster Brian Hanni, which raises money for children with cancer — were able to run gleefully through a tunnel of Kansas basketball legends.

This year’s game benefited half a dozen kids from around Kansas (adding a “sixth man” to the event’s usual “starting five”): Nolan Anderson, 5, of Topeka; Hayden Ballou, 13, of Carlton; Lilly Bolton, 11, of Topeka; Hunter Brown, 6; Raven Hays, 1; and Ismael “Leon” Vargas, 4, of Dodge City. That brings the number of kids aided by the game to 46, according to its website, in the amount of over $1 million.

Then, after the game ended in a stunning 104-104 tie when Wayne Selden hit an off-balance contested 3-pointer as time expired, Calvin Thompson beat fellow coach Greg Ostertag in a sudden-death free-throw shooting contest to give his red team the comeback win.

Hanni noted that 12 years ago, the game ended in a similar tie and Bud Stallworth, the longtime Roundball Classic coach, won the contest, held the follow-through, and walked off with a win. It was a fitting note on a night when the event honored Stallworth, the 1972 All-Big Eight Player of the Year at KU, by renaming the game’s trophy in his honor at halftime.

Stallworth is currently experiencing health issues back at home in St. Louis, and his wife Robin said she was grateful for the support he had garnered from the Roundball Classic community.

“When we have challenges in life and your friends step up and become angels,” she said, “it’s beyond belief.”

New this year, the event also introduced a “benevolence fund” for year-round philanthropic efforts. Seven additional children who were acknowledged as “future stars” Thursday received $1,000 contributions from Lawrence-based financial advisers Miller Retirement Group and, as part of the new fund, will each be able to attend a Kansas basketball or football game with a Jayhawk legend and receive $5,000 along the way, Hanni said during the game.

“Keep kicking cancer’s booty, and maybe you’ll be in the starting five next year, all right?” Hanni said.

The event also featured a number of thrilling on-court moments. Keith Langford, who starred for the Jayhawks in the early 2000s, returned to the court after Achilles surgery and put up 30 points, including three 3-pointers in the final 1:30. At one point, he earned a steal to set up Svi Mykhailiuk for a pair of clutch free throws; at another, Mykhailiuk forced a turnover to get Langford a 3 with 1.4 seconds left.

“Secretly, I rooted for Svi,” Langford said. “He was one of my favorite players from the time he got here.”

The blue team led by double digits as late as 72-62, and no one on the red team could do much to stop Udoka Azubuike (20 points) from dunking the ball on every possession or Ben McLemore (a game-high 37) from terrorizing the competition just as he did in Wednesday’s KU camp scrimmage. But between Langford’s second-half heroics and some key buckets from crowd favorite Mitch Lightfoot (who had 14 points) the red team surged back into contention, giving the fans a dramatic ending.

“That’s the reason why they’re here, seeing the exciting finish,” Langford said. “Hopefully it’s more incentive — aside from actually helping these kids out — more incentive to come back, because the game has to be good on top of that. Hopefully, man, this invigorated the fans and they’ll keep making it 16, 17, 18 times.”

On a personal level, Langford said he was thrilled to be back on the court at last.

“I just miss it, man — playing basketball, and the fact that I got to do it here, just getting to feel this energy and this vibe one more time, I don’t know how many more times I’m gonna be able to get out here and play,” he said. “I’m 39 years old. This is priceless, you know what I mean?”

The blue team failed their initial chance at a go-ahead bucket tied 101-101, despite commandeering a reporter’s pen and notebook to draw up a play. But after Langford’s dagger, Selden came back with a heroic tying 3. Still, Langford said he had confidence in Thompson.

“He’s a legend, man,” he said. “No doubt in my mind he was gonna hit that.”

The eclectic rosters for this incarnation of the event also featured a variety of non-basketball guests, including former Chiefs quarterback Trent Green and Kansas cornerback Aqib Talib, who made brief appearances.

The basketball matchup was simply the first component of the three-day festivities, which also include two familiar additional events: a dinner with a slew of former Jayhawks at the Burge Union Friday night and a bowling competition at Royal Crest Lanes Saturday.