Your guide to tonight’s TBT $1 million championship finale at Drexel

Drexel’s Daskalaskis Athletic Center was the venue for quite the show on Wednesday, as the traveling caravan that has been The Basketball Tournament — or TBT as its better known — tipped off its Final Four on the first of two nights in University City.

TBT, the $1 million basketball contest that pits 64 teams comprised of former college and professional players, hosted its semifinal rounds complete with a pregame dunk contest at the DAC. At the end of last night, it was settled that two teams, No. 2-seeded Heartfire, the team featuring a collective of TBT veterans, and fellow No. 2 seed Bleed Green, a team representing the University of North Texas, will play for $1 million again at the DAC (7 p.m., ESPN).

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It’s the first time these two teams have made a TBT final, now in its 10th year, in return to the city where the tournament first began in 2014. Heartfire with an average age of players in their mid-30s, will play Bleed Green, the youngest team in the field.

Before you go, here are a few observations from Wednesday’s semifinal doubleheader and a few things to keep your eyes on if you plan on taking in the festivities tonight.

Former University of Colorado standout Marcus Hall, set to play in his first-ever final, has been a mainstay of the TBT since it first started. Playing in his fifth TBT, on Wednesday night, Hall, 37, not only hit a few clutch shots (nine points) to help Heartfire secure a finals berth, but he also became the all-time leading scorer of the tournament with his basket late in the fourth quarter.

“It’s great I hit it there because it’s a shot I work on all the time,” Hall said about his shot to set the record. “To be on top of the scoring list means you have to win a lot of games too, so it’s a shoutout to my teammates who helped me get to this moment.”

There’s some irony in the fact that Heartfire’s Raphiael Putney hit a three-pointer to defeat semifinal opponent Herd That, 73-68, because Heartfire shot just 4 of 19 from beyond the arc. Fortunately for Heartfire, Herd That was even worse, not connecting on its first three-point attempt until the final minutes of the fourth quarter in the Elam Ending.

» READ MORE: What to know about TBT, the $1 million, winner-takes-all hoops tournament that will be decided at Drexel

It was Stevens’s fadeaway perimeter jumper off his backfoot with just two seconds remaining on the shot clock that won the game for Bleed Green but he was the catalyst, scoring a team-high 18 points off the bench, shooting 50% from three, including the game-winner.

“I’m speechless,” Stevens said postgame. “It’s just a surreal feeling to know that we are all playing for a million dollars tomorrow; TBT is just incredible. We all locked in and now here we are. Shout out to the coaches, the players and the support system that traveled all the way from Texas for this.”

Even more incredible is that this Bleed Green team is just in its second year of the tournament with a team that’s a mix of some alumni coming from a non-Power 5 program.

Remember JP Tokoto? He was selected by Sixers in the second round of the 2015 NBA draft, but after being waived by the team following the 2015 preseason, Tokoto didn’t amount to much here in Philadelphia.

Until last night.

In the loss for his Herd That team, Tokoto was the star of the show, scoring a game-high 27 points, alongside nine rebounds. He fueled a comeback by Herd That against Heartfire, bringing his squad to within three with just four minutes in the fourth quarter, after being down by 15 to start the final period.

Rapper Jadakiss sat on the sidelines at the DAC last night… Kelly green was on full display as two semifinal teams in Herd That, a collective of former Marshall alumni, and Bleed Green, comprised of North Texas alums, both sported the color that has been the talk of the town this week… The DAC has seen a sizable crowd for both games of the tournament… TBT referee Clarence Armstrong was back in familiar digs as a former player at Drexel from 1988-92. According to the broadcast, this was the first time Armstrong, a well-known referee in NCAA circles, officiated a game at his former alma mater since referees aren’t allowed to officiate games of schools they attended.