Buddy Boeheim, Elijah Hughes star in TBT debuts, coast to first-round win: Final score, recap, photos

Boeheim's Army forward Jimmy Boeheim (0). Boeheims Army face off against the Herkimer Originals in The Basketball Tournament at OCCs SRC Arena July 19, 2025. Dennis Nett | [email protected]
Syracuse, N.Y. — Boeheim’s Army takes on the Herkimer Originals in The Basketball Tournament at 6 p.m., Saturday at SRC Arena on the campus of OCC.

Boeheim's Army guard Jacob Gilyard (8). Boeheims Army face off against the Herkimer Originals in The Basketball Tournament at OCCs SRC Arena July 19, 2025. Dennis Nett | [email protected]
Note: Refresh this page throughout Boeheim’s Army’s game vs. Herkimer Originals to see the latest updates

Boeheims Army face off against the Herkimer Originals in The Basketball Tournament at OCCs SRC Arena July 19, 2025. Dennis Nett | [email protected]
Final: Boeheim’s Army 97, Herkimer Originals 71
Buddy Boeheim and Elijah Hughes combined for 45 points in their TBT debuts, including 12 3s, as Boeheim’s Army cruised by Herkimer Originals in the first round of The Basketball Tournament.

Boeheim's Army guard Elijah Hughes (7). Boeheims Army face off against the Herkimer Originals in The Basketball Tournament at OCCs SRC Arena July 19, 2025. Dennis Nett | [email protected]
Hughes slapped the name plate of The Army in the Round of 32 on the TBT bracket. The team is back in action at 8 Monday night against We Are D3 at SRC Arena on OCC’s campus. FS2 will televise.

Coach Allen Griffin pre-game. Boeheims Army face off against the Herkimer Originals in The Basketball Tournament at OCCs SRC Arena July 19, 2025. Dennis Nett | [email protected]
BA finished 18-for-29 (62.1%) from 3 and had four players finish the game in double figures. Boeheim led all scorers with 24 points, while Hughes was right behind with 21.
Jimmy Boeheim scored 10 points and grabbed five rebounds off the bench, and former Richmond point guard Jacob Gilyard recorded a double-double with 10 points and 11 assists.
But it was Buddy Boeheim who claimed the spotlight early and carried it through the end. He arrived in Syracuse around 8:30 this morning after taking an overnight flight from Las Vegas, where he was finishing up Summer League duties with the Indiana Pacers.
Boeheim, by the way, started for the Pacers on Friday night and played 26 minutes.
“My favorite place in the world,” Boeheim said of his return home on the FS1 postgame broadcast. “Nothing better.”
“The adrenaline was there from the start. ... It didn’t matter how many hours of sleep I got last night.”
Elam Ending

Boeheim's Army guard Buddy Boeheim (35). Boeheims Army face off against the Herkimer Originals in The Basketball Tournament at OCCs SRC Arena July 19, 2025. Dennis Nett | [email protected]
Boeheim’s Army 89, Herkimer Originals 67

Boeheim's Army forward Chris McCullough (5) Boeheims Army face off against the Herkimer Originals in The Basketball Tournament at OCCs SRC Arena July 19, 2025. Dennis Nett | [email protected]
Target score: 97
Boeheim buries his seventh 3 of the night to bring the Army within five of the victory.

Elijah Hughes slides the team name up the bracket after the teams win. Boeheims Army face off against the Herkimer Originals in The Basketball Tournament at OCCs SRC Arena July 19, 2025. Dennis Nett | [email protected]
Jimmy Boeheim scores on a hook shot in the lane to get into double figures.
Hughes ends it with a 3, his fifth of the night.
Fourth quarter
Hughes and Buddy Boeheim pacing BA’s with 18 points apiece and nine combined 3s in their TBT debuts.

Boeheim's Army forward Rakeem Christmas (25) Boeheims Army face off against the Herkimer Originals in The Basketball Tournament at OCCs SRC Arena July 19, 2025. Dennis Nett | [email protected]
BA will look to milk clock and get to the 4-minute mark, when the Elam Ending target score will be set.
Chris McCullough with the highlight dunk of the night, finishing through Damien Call.
Buddy Boeheim drills another 3. He’s up to 21 points on 6-for-8 shooting from 3. Camera catches a sly smile on Jim Boeheim’s face as Boeheim stepped into that 3 in rhythm.

Boeheim's Army guard Buddy Boeheim (35) Boeheims Army face off against the Herkimer Originals in The Basketball Tournament at OCCs SRC Arena July 19, 2025. Dennis Nett | [email protected]
Third quarter
End of third quarter: Boeheim’s Army 78, Herkimer Originals 54
Wow, Jimmy Boeheim with a block on a dunk attempt right at the basket. Jimmy has played a nice all-around game off the bench.
Malachi Richardson hits his second 3 of the game at the other end.
Boeheim’s Army is shooting a staggering 15-for-23 from beyond the arc.
3:17 remaining: Boeheim’s Army 68, Herkimer Originals 44
Boeheim’s Army opens the third quarter on an 13-2 scoring run, including 3s by Buddy Boeheim and Hughes, and a strong finish down low by Christmas.
Buddy Boeheim lets it fly from inside the logo on the wing and hits nothing but net. He also made a great pass to Hughes, looking off Gilyard, in transition for a layup.
It’s a splattering in Syracuse.
Halftime: Boeheim’s Army 48, Herkimer Originals 31
Elijah Hughes and Buddy Boeheim led Boeheim’s Army in their TBT debuts, combining for 23 points and six made 3s in the first half.
Jimmy Boeheim came off the bench and rebounded hard, finishing the half with a game-high five boards.
The pace has mostly favored the Army, which is getting a good number of looks in transition. Boeheim’s Army has 15 assists on 19 baskets. Former Richmond star Jacob Gilyard has six assists.
Second quarter
A swat by Christmas leads to a 3 by Hughes at the other end and the Army lead is 15, its largest of the evening.
Jimmy Boeheim doing a nice job on the boards. He crashes and keeps alive a possession by feeding to Hughes in the corner for another 3. Jimmy then drives baseline and goes up and under for a lay in.
3:32 remaining: Boeheim’s Army 38, Herkimer Originals 26
Gilyard whips a pass to McCullough cutting to the basket and Boeheim’s Army draws up a nice play to open the second quarter.
Boeheim’s Army cooling off from 3 as the pace slows. After Herkimer closes with seven, Buddy Boeheim hits a 3 in rhythm off the bounce to claw back a double-digit margin.
Buddy leads all scorers with 11 and heads the line after drawing a foul on the break.
Nice and-one from Whitesboro’s Josh Gregory, who misses the free throw on the back end to keep the margin at nine.
Frank Mason then drills a 3. Too much talent on Boeheim’s Army.
First quarter
End of first quarter: Boeheim’s Army 27, Herkimer Originals 18
Jimmy Boeheim crashes the boards on a take by Mason and gets the putback.
Herkimer closes with nine with a nice two-man game. A half-court heave at the horn caroms off the front of the rim.
Buddy Boeheim has a team-high eight points; Jimmy has four points and four rebounds. Jacob Gilyard netted five in the first quarter.
2:56 remaining: Boeheim’s Army 20, Herkimer Originals 10
Boeheim’s Army starting five: PG Jacob Gilyard; SG Buddy Boeheim; F Elijah Hughes; F Chris McCullough; C Rakeem Christmas
Hughes knocks down a corner 3 to get the scoring started. Boeheim’s Army playing man-to-man defense.
Boeheim scores in transition off a missed 3 for his first TBT basket, then he banks in a 3 from up top. Boeheim connects on another 3 to give the Army an early eight-point lead.
Noah Starkey, Jimmy Boeheim and Frank Mason are the first three subs to check into the game for Christmas, McCullough and Boeheim.
Gilyard hits a wide-open long 2 off the inbound pass before knocking down a 3.
Pregame
Boeheim’s Army is back in The Basketball Tournament after not fielding a team in last year’s $1 million, winner-take-all summer hoops fix.
Guard Buddy Boeheim is expected to be available after playing 26 minutes and scoring six points on 2-for-8 shooting from 3 last night in the Indiana Pacers’ Summer League finale.
Boeheim figures to be one of the main draws for the hometown team, along with Elijah Hughes, in what’s expected to be his TBT debut. Hughes, head coach Allen Griffin said earlier this week, will likely play some point guard.
Those two headline the Syracuse-centric roster, along with Jimmy Boeheim, Malachi Richardson, Rakeem Christmas and Chris McCullough. Syracuse native Charles Pride was a late add to the roster.
The team convened in Syracuse earlier this week to begin practice for the single-elimination, 64-team tournament. The Orange will play Monday and Wednesday at SRC Arena as long as it wins.
The Monday opponent? That would be We Are D3, which knocked out Symir Torrence, a bunch of other local products and Laynes Hope, 75-71, earlier Saturday afternoon.
Laynes Hope trailed by 14 at the start of the Elam Ending and charged back to get the score even at 71-71 before coming up short.
Boeheim’s Army’s opening-round opponent from Herkimer has plenty of local flavor, too. The Syracuse region’s No. 8 seed has four former Section III basketball players suiting up, and its head coach is also a former player from Section III.
Jordan-Elbridge’s Jeremiah Sparks, Whitesboro’s Josh Gregory, Utica Academy of Science’s LaMarqus Merchant Jr. and West Genesee’s Mike Henry will all play for the Originals. Holland Patent grad Dave “Gumby” Golembiowski will lead the charge on the sidelines as head coach.
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