AfterShocks advance to TBT title game, one win from $1 million
The AfterShocks are one win away from a storybook ending.
And they’ll have the chance to finish it on their home floor.
Wichita State’s alumni team punched its ticket to The Basketball Tournament championship — and a shot at the $1 million prize — with a 66-54 semifinal win over We Are D3 on Thursday night at Koch Arena.
One more win Sunday, against Eberlein Drive, would complete the AfterShocks’ climb from local sensation to national force.
Sunday’s title game tips at 3 p.m. on FOX. A win would place the AfterShocks alongside past alumni champions like Ohio State, Syracuse, Marquette and Buffalo. But no alumni team before them has had this opportunity: Conner Frankamp, Markis McDuffie, Rashard Kelly and Trey Wade could win a title on the very floor where they once built their legacy.
“It never gets old,” Frankamp said after playing in front of 5,212 fans inside the Roundhouse. “You get goosebumps every time.”
It wasn’t always pretty, but the AfterShocks leaned on their disruptive defense to grind out their fifth straight home win.
The AfterShocks opened ice cold, but even as shots clanged off the rim, their defense and rebounding began to tilt the game. They scraped together a 14-12 lead by crashing the glass and contesting everything — early signs that their size, strength and pace would eventually wear down the collection of former Division III stars.
Then came the eruption.
The AfterShocks turned a rock fight into a rout, stringing together back-to-back bursts that overwhelmed We Are D3 and sent the Koch Arena crowd into a frenzy. The first, an 11-0 run sparked by a McDuffie corner 3 and three straight steals and scores, showcased the kind of defensive onslaught that has defined the team’s identity.
We Are D3’s Cinderella run had been powered by star guard Ty Nichols and his smooth scoring touch. But the AfterShocks never allowed the visitors to look comfortable against their toughness, physicality and relentless pressure. The second quarter exposed the gap — Nichols looked frustrated, the offense rushed and turnovers turned into easy buckets the other way. He finished with 14 points on 4-of-14 shooting.
“We talked about it before the game: ‘Do what got you here,’” AfterShocks coach Zach Bush said. “Just an incredible effort and toughness on the defensive end. You can’t always depend on your shots falling, but you can always depend on your effort and toughness. And we were harping on that since the first media timeout.”
The AfterShocks closed the half with another 10-0 blitz in the final two and a half minutes. Back-to-back triples by Leyton Hammonds and Frankamp, followed by a buzzer-beating scoop shot from Marcus Keene stretched the lead to 35-17 at halftime — a cushion too big to give back.
We Are D3 made a late push, trimming the deficit to 53-45 just before the Elam Ending. But Chevez Goodwin answered with a bucket inside and Keene drained a triple to restore order. The AfterShocks didn’t need to shoot the lights out (42.9% from the floor and 7-of-28 from deep), not with a defense that forced 12 first-half turnovers and held We Are D3 to 37% shooting.
Up 58-49 at the start of the Elam Ending, the AfterShocks quickly padded their lead with buckets from James Woodard (team-high 12 points) and Nike Sibande. We Are D3 never quit but never came closer either.
The game ended on a bizarre note. Keene was called for a foul on a Nichols 3-pointer, but Nichols took offense and shoved him from behind. After a lengthy review, Nichols was hit with a technical and Keene sank the walk-off free throw to reach the target score of 66.
“I just love the energy here,” said Keene, who had 10 points. “I want to show these fans what we work hard for every day, every summer, every year and just put my talent out there and play hard for them. We want to win for these fans.”
Now comes the final test.
Eberlein Drive, powered by former Arizona sharpshooter Gabe York, earned their title shot with a 25-point performance from York in a semifinal road win over Best Virginia. It’s a veteran squad with deep TBT pedigree, finishing runner-up in 2018 and reaching the semifinals again last year.
For the AfterShocks, it’s not just about the money. It’s about delivering a championship to the fans who have turned the Roundhouse into the best home-court advantage in summer basketball.
This story was originally published July 31, 2025 at 9:03 PM.
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