May Madness: LRA NBA 2K Tournament Round of 32 & Sweet 16 Recap
After two more exhilarating rounds of gaming, the Elite Eight is set. Major upsets have become the norm, while a number of players are yet to face a significant challenge in tournament play.
In heart breaking fashion, Kyle Guy was eliminated by Nathan Acorn, 45-39. Guy was actually winning by seven points with five minutes to play, but technical issues obstructed the 2019 Final Four MOP from preventing Acorn’s furious comeback.
Acorn’s win set up a contest with Chuck Davis, who advanced past Quin Blanding in the Round of 32. In another close finish, Acorn stayed alive with an eight-point victory over Davis, 50-42.
Now in the St. Louis Cardinals organization, Connor Jones won again, 54-32, over three-time tennis National Champion Luca Corinteli. Jones would then meet Grant Kersey, who beat Jacob Dunagin 59-46 in his Round of 32 contest.
Jones stuck to his winning ways in the Sweet Sixteen, and trounced Kersey by a score of 66-32.
Olamide Zaccheaus coasted to a Round of 32 win, beating Jackson Hairfield by twenty-three points, 67-44. Opposite Zaccheaus, Eli Bennett took an even more convincing victory over Jeremy Rinaca, winning 68-22.
Bennett and Zaccheaus met in the Sweet 16 for a highly touted contest after they’d won their first and second round contests by a combined 63 and 62 points, respectively. Following a back and forth battle, Bennett pulled away to win 58-50 and propel himself to the Elite Eight.
Micah Fraction and Joshua Burton went down to the wire, with Fraction coming out on top 52-48 in a nail-biter of a finish. In a similarly tense contest, Ty Jerome beat Saif Chowdhrey 57-53 to advance to the Sweet 16.
While their Round of 32 matchups had been excruciatingly close, Jerome and Fraction’s Sweet 16 contest was quite the different story. Jerome came out on top, 69-42, and solidified his spot in the Elite Eight.
In his first appearance of the tournament, De’Andre Hunter came out swinging in his 82-60 win over Mattie Rannigan. Isaiah Wilkins also played his first game of the tournament in the Round of 32, but it was much different story. Wilkins just barely held on to a three-point lead, winning 48-45 against Collin Chance.
Those two wins set up a Sweet 16 matchup for the ages between two former ACC Defensive Players of the Year. Hunter would reign victorious, besting Wilkins by seven points and advancing to the Elite Eight.
TW Huang took care of business against Kodie Critzer, and set up a Sweet 16 contest with Jake McGee. McGee had beaten Cam Anderson 66-59 in the Round of 32, and would once again claim victory, this time in the Sweet 16, as he secured his spot in the Elite Eight after advancing past Huang.
Sean Singletary took care of business against Kobe Jerome, beating him 49-29 and sending the young Jerome back to the drawing board. Ryan Greer claimed victory after beating Remy Nelson by six-points, and set up a Sweet 16 contest with Singletary.
Calm as ever, Singletary wiped the floor with Greer, as he had with Jerome, winning 64-43 and heading on to the Elite Eight.
Alex Turner won a close game against Riley Wilson, outlasting the lefty pitcher, 53-48. In contrast to that low scoring, nail-biting contest, Justin Anderson set the tournament high score in his 95-39 victory over Ryan Gibson. ‘
Despite the impressive Round of 32 performance, Anderson would be knocked out by Turner in the Sweet Sixteen, 56-50.
With those games in the books, it’s time for the Elite Eight!
The Singletary versus Turne and Acorn versus Bennett contests will take place at an earlier time on their own, so keep an eye out for results of those two contests.
But, tomorrow, on Sunday, May 3rd, the final five games of this tournament will be streamed live on the Locker Room Access Twitch Account.
Starting at 1:00 pm Eastern Time, Jerome will tip off against Connor Jones, followed by Deandre Hunter and Jake McGee’s highly anticipated matchup at 1:30.
The winners of the Jerome-Jones and Bennett-Acorn games will tip of at 2:00 pm, while the winners from the Singletary-Turner and Hunter-McGee contests will play at 2:30.
The Locker Room Access NBA 2K20 Championship will take place at 3:00. Make sure to follow Locker Room Access on social media for live updates, and join us on twitch tomorrow at 1:00 pm to conclude what has been a phenomenal effort to provide COVID-19 relief throughout Charlottesville!
Link to Watch the Final Rounds LIVE - Locker Room Access Twitch