photo by: The Basketball Tournament

Mass Street's Frank Mason faces off against Team Colorado's André Roberson during the game on Wednesday, July 24, 2024, in Wichita.

After making practically every 3-pointer they attempted in the second half, the Kansas alumni missed the ones that mattered most.

Frank Mason III, Dedric Lawson and Lagerald Vick (twice) each missed potential game-winning 3-point attempts with Mass Street stuck at 81 facing a target score of 84 in the Elam Ending on Wednesday night. Instead, D’Shawn Schwartz became the hero for Team Colorado, which vanquished the former Jayhawks by a score of 84-81 in Wichita.

Mass Street, which fell short in the round of 16 for the second straight summer, also became the third straight Kansas-based outfit taken down by Team Colorado in this year’s edition of The Basketball Tournament.

After a sluggish first half for the KU alumni, Vick had hit three 3s in the third quarter, Billy Preston added two — one at the buzzer — after having been held scoreless for the entire first half, and Mass Street had used that hot shooting in combination with somewhat improved second-half defense to lead by as many as 11 points in the fourth quarter.

The KU alumni then went into the Elam Ending ahead by seven points, but made just one field goal — a one-handed dunk by Preston — before floundering as Team Colorado climbed toward the target score.

Schwartz, who hit the final floater, had 19 points, but the former Buffaloes revolved around André Roberson, the onetime NBA defensive stalwart who had 14 points and 15 rebounds and locked down Preston in particular for much of the game.

Joshua Adams, who had gone a combined 2-for-16 in his team’s first two games, led his team with 21 points. Jaizec Lottie also scored 16 off the bench, his third straight game in double figures.

Mason racked up 25 despite Team Colorado’s best efforts, and Lawson, Preston and Vick all reached double digits but struggled in the Elam Ending. Sam Cunliffe had an efficient 12 points.

Roberson showed his defensive qualifications early, blocking a pair of contested midrange jump shots by Preston. Mass Street opened 0-for-7 and found itself in the reverse position of its second-round game against Florida TNT, trailing 8-0 and forced to take an early timeout.

Vick broke the drought after a midcourt steal by Lawson set him up for a deep 2-pointer.

With a minute and a half to go in the first quarter, the KU alumni trailed 15-10 when Mason rounded a screen by Jamari Traylor, drew a foul, drained a deep jump shot and completed a three-point play. But Schwartz hit a pair of 3s late in the period, Travis Washington missed one at the buzzer and the former Buffaloes took a 23-15 lead into the second quarter.

Mason kept scoring, driving to the hoop successfully against Roberson twice, and Cunliffe added a quick eight-point spurt off the bench, but then Roberson got hot on the offensive side and singlehandedly went on a 7-0 run.

Traylor earned some small consolation for the KU alumni entering the break with a three-point play on a hard-fought layup inside to keep the deficit at 47-39.

After the break, Mass Street forced an immediate timeout by Team Colorado following a putback by Kevin Young and corner 3 by Vick, his first of three in the first six minutes of the quarter. The KU alumni cut the margin to two points twice, even with Mason walking gingerly, slipping on the floor and then briefly leaving the game. And then when he returned, he immediately used a screen from Lawson to hit a go-ahead 3.

The teams traded buckets, and with the game tied, Preston broke out of his cold spell with his first bucket of the game (with Roberson out), a contested 3-pointer that made it 61-58.

From then on, the KU alumni began to assert themselves, extending their lead as far as 76-65 on a 3-pointer by Lawson. Team Colorado scored twice, though, which foreshadowed its breakout showing in the Elam Ending.

Once the clock got shut off, the former Buffaloes cut into that remaining advantage quickly and Adams tied the game at 78 on a dunk. Colorado took the lead before Mason drew a foul on an attempt from deep and made all three free throws, then took it back on two free throws by Adams.

Team Colorado advances to take on Houston alumni team Forever Coogs in the TBT quarterfinals.

Box score