A quarterfinal matchup in The Basketball Tournament turned tense on Monday night at the Roundhouse in Wichita, where the AfterShocks and JHX Hoops faced off in a game that had been building for years between Wichita State and Kansas alumni.
Scuffle Under the Basket Sparks Wider Incident
With 2:43 left in the second quarter, Mario Chalmers of JHX Hoops and Rashard Kelly of the AfterShocks got tangled up fighting for a rebound near the basket. The contact spilled out of bounds and led to some shoving between the two players. Benches from both sides emptied quickly after that, and officials moved in to break things up.
Once order was restored, technical fouls were handed out, and both Chalmers and Kelly were ejected from the game. The situation didn’t stop there.
Every player who left the bench during the incident was also disqualified, leaving the AfterShocks with five ejections and JHX Hoops with four. That meant only a handful of players remained available for each team for the rest of the game.
JHX Hoops Pulls Off Comeback Win
Despite the shortened rosters, JHX Hoops came out on top, winning 64 to 59 after Frank Mason III hit a three-pointer during the Elam Ending to reach the target score. Zeke Mayo led all scorers with 25 points for JHX Hoops.
The win sends the Kansas alumni squad to a semifinal matchup against La Familia, the Kentucky alumni team.
AfterShocks head coach Zach Bush said afterward that the shortened bench actually seemed to help his team’s focus rather than hurt it, even though Wichita State ultimately fell short.
The clip of the altercation quickly made its way onto social media, where KWCH 12 News shared the footage, and fans weighed in with a mix of jokes and frustration.
Trenton Hammond wrote, “Sounds about like Wichita.”
Charity Huhman commented, “Typical KU…fans & players.”
J.D. Ham joked that the players were “trying to show up the WNBA fighting skills.”
Jim Johnson asked simply, “Who is the white headed old man with the shorts on?”
Sam White poked fun at the moment, saying it was “shocking bills lessons still paying off.”
And Beva Peveler compared the scene to something out of a “carnival cruise.”
The rivalry between the two alumni programs, which dates back years, only added fuel to an already physical night of basketball. With JHX Hoops advancing, attention now turns to Lexington, where the Jayhawks alumni team will look to punch a ticket to the TBT championship game and a shot at the two million dollar prize.
