Best Virginia, the WVU alumni-based team, found itself down 12 points a few times during Tuesday's The Basketball Tournament West Virginia Regional title game against top-seeded Elite Nation.
Best Virginia fought back and rallied, which led to a seven-point advantage heading into the Elam Ending, 70-63, with the target score set at 78.
Best Virginia's first two games in TBT had seen it squander a few late leads, leading to blood pressure and heart rates increasing.
Not Tuesday. Best Virginia put its foot on the gas during the Elam Ending, taking down Elite Nation, 79-68, on a James Reese V pull-up jumper in the paint at the ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä Coliseum & Convention Center.
Final:
— Taylor Kennedy (@Taylor_Kennedy7) July 23, 2025
Best Virginia - 79 vs Elite Nation - 68
Best Virginia’s James Reese hits the game winner to give BV the victory! Reese finishes the game with a game-high 24 points! pic.twitter.com/EKepA3k8J3
Best Virginia now heads to the quarterfinal round for the second time and first since 2022. It will take on Shell Shock (Maryland's alumni team) in ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä on Monday at 6 p.m.
"I didn't have to say much -- keep defending and keep rebounding, [while] playing [in] transition as much as possible," Best Virginia coach Jarrod West Sr. said about his message heading into the Elam Ending. "I've learned when you're playing with good players, sometimes you got [to] dummy it down and let them play.
"I'm just screaming on defense as much as I possibly can to try to get people in gaps, but they did an excellent job of getting hands [up] and deflections."
Elite Nation was almost unconscious shooting the basketball in the first half, going 50% from the floor and 59% from 3.
Rashad Vaughn led Elite Nation's hot shooting, totaling 16 points in the first half.
However, Best Virginia made adjustments against Vaughn, holding him to six points in the second half. He finished with 22.
"To stay attached," West said about the defensive adjustment. "We knew he was an excellent shooter. He hit a couple tough ones. He caught one in the corner with someone on him. He's a pro. There's a reason why he was 17th in the [2015] NBA draft.
"We closed space a little bit and, obviously, did a better job on their guards, which didn't allow them to get him the ball."
Best Virginia's JD Weatherspoon didn't play much in the first half but got a lot of run in the second, playing 25 minutes.
Weatherspoon didn't play in the first game against DuBois Dream, but he came up big in the next two for Best Virginia.
The Ohio State and Toledo product recorded 16 points, making all six of his shots, and eight rebounds.
Weatherspoon produced 10 points and 14 rebounds on Sunday against Herd That.
"I'm just a firm believer in God," Weatherspoon said. "What I mean by [that] is I could have been pouting and went to the coach. I didn't say nothing to the coach. I could have [taken my] negative energy towards the team and been pouting.
"You can't do that. I'm going on 10 years of playing professional basketball. The guys call me 'Unc.' It's pretty funny now, but I just keep a positive attitude."
West mentioned Weatherspoon's effort as a big piece of the Best Virginia puzzle.
"We had a conversation the next day after the first game. We ate breakfast together," West said. "[He's] one of the most respectful [guys]. I genuinely love him. He's a great man. He could have pouted, and I [thanked him] for giving me grace as a coach for not playing in that first game."
Elite Nation's lead reached eight points multiple times in the first quarter, including after a pair of AJ English free throws gave Elite Nation a 23-15 lead.
English finished second in scoring on Tuesday, with 15 points on 5-of-15 shooting.
Reese countered the two free throws with a 3-pointer of his own with less than two seconds left in the first frame to close the gap.
Elite Nation's scorching hot shooting continued in the second to lead 41-30, with all of its points coming from behind the arc.
Best Virginia countered with a 9-0 run to close the first half, thanks to Reese and Kedrian Johnson.
Johnson posted 17 points and five steals in the victory. He shot 5 of 8 from the floor.
Elite Nation's Samuel Idowu silenced the crowd with two seconds remaining, though, giving Elite Nation a 44-39 lead at halftime.
Elite Nation got an early 10-0 run to start the second half, with Vaughn scoring all of his second-half points in the first 3:11 of the third quarter.
Best Virginia closed its deficit to three, 54-51, with a 9-0 run, but the WVU alumni team still found itself down one going into the final quarter, 59-58.
Former Fairmont State Falcon Isaiah Sanders drilled a right corner triple with 8:46 remaining in the final quarter, giving Best Virginia a 61-59 advantage.
The two-point lead early in the fourth quarter was Best Virginia's first lead since 4-2.
Best Virginia rode a 6-0 run into the Elam Ending to lead 70-63 and closed it out from there.
Reese led all scorers with 24 points on 7-of-16 shooting, including 5 of 11 from long distance. He also added six assists.
West said the next few days leading up to Monday's contest will be focused on regenerating and being fresh.
"Obviously, [we'll] watch film and get ready for the next team we're going to play," West said. "I've been trying to take it one game at a time and not look ahead. The blessing is we're back here in the friendly confines of the ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä [Coliseum & Convention Center].
"Hopefully, we get a good crowd next Monday. We need to take a day or two off to kind of refresh legs, take care of our bodies, get home and some good food in us."
BEST VIRGINIA 18 12 19 12 9 -- 79
ELITE NATION 23 21 15 4 5 -- 68
BV: Reese 24, Johnson 17, Weatherspoon 16, Mitchell 11, West 3, Okani 3, Sanders 3, Harris 2.
EN: Vaughn 22, English 15, Washington 8, Osborne 6, Harrison 6, Hall 3, Robinson 3, Idowu 3, Smith 2.
