Andre Drummond couldn’t help but stand up and bounce a basketball on the University of St. Joseph bleachers inside the James A. Calhoun Gymnasium on Monday night.
He was watching top-seeded Barb’s Ballers/My Wife Didn’t Cook, led by pro-am legend Roosevelt Lee, go down to the wire with the 10-seed Yard Goats in the Greater Hartford Pro-Am quarterfinal, and was living and dying with every possession. At one point the former UConn star and current Chicago Bulls center was so focused on the game he accidentally bounced the ball off the front of the bleacher, sending it dribbling down to the court.
Barb’s Ballers held off the younger team, composed mainly of Western New England University basketball players, and secured their spot in Wednesday’s semifinal with an 89-84 win. They will meet Favor Inc. in the later game, set to begin at 8:30 p.m., following Vargas Chapman Woods LLC vs. Endow Hartford 21 at 6:30.
Vargas Chapman Woods used a 45-point performance from Murray State guard Brian Moore to beat Crumbie Law Group, 114-112, on Sunday. Former Sacred Heart and St. Joseph University guard Jaecee Martin, from Hartford, scored 34 points to push Endow Hartford into the semifinal.
Pro-Am founder Pete Higgins said he expects former NBA player Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, born Chris Jackson, to be in attendance on Wednesday. Abdul-Rauf shared the story of his controversial NBA career in the documentary “Stand” which was released on Showtime in February.
Wednesday’s winners will advance to a best-of-three championship series set to begin Sunday with the second game on Monday and Game 3, if necessary, will be played Wednesday, Aug. 16.