Ty Nichols’ 36 points power We Are D3 past Boeheim’s Army
Ty Nichols’ 36 points, which included a game-winning layup, helped seal an 81-78 win over Boeheim’s Army in the second round of TBT. Courtesy of The Basketball Tournament
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Every year, The Basketball Tournament reintroduces once-well-known names in the world of basketball to a new audience. 2020 NBA Sixth Man of the Year, Montrezl Harrell. Sixth overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, Willie Cauley-Stein. The Boeheim Brothers.
At the same time, TBT also has a knack for highlighting names unknown to most. Enter Ty Nichols and fast forward to the final seconds of We Are D3’s matchup with Boeheim’s Army as he drives by Elijah Hughes, a 2020 First Team All-ACC Selection, and calls game over former Marquette wing Jamil Wilson.
Try your best to forget his name now.
“When the lights shine the brightest, that’s when I play my best,” Nichols told Fox Sports 1 postgame.
Nichols scored a 2025 TBT-high of 36 points, shooting 13-of-20 in 42 minutes, pushing We Are D3 — a team composed of standout Division III alumni — to an 81-78 win over top-seeded Boeheim’s Army. The loss marked the fourth time BA’s failed to reach the third round of TBT in its last six appearances and marks We Are D3’s third-ever victory in TBT history after back-to-back wins.
“Once Ty got going, it was hard to stop him. Toward the end, we started to push up and try to double-team him a little bit,” Boeheim’s Army head coach Allen Griffin said. “But by that time, he had it going too much. That’s the adjustment I probably should have made a lot earlier.”
Entering the second round, Nichols – a 2019 graduate of D-III Keene State who has spent his professional career in Poland, Germany, Slovakia, Czechia, Kosovo, Albania and Greece – already had a signature moment at TBT. In the first round, his two free throws finished off Layne’s Hope in an Elam Ending.
He wanted more, but We Are D3 got off to a shaky start, and BA continued its dominance from its 97-71 blowout win over the Herkimer Originals two days prior. Down 15-5, Nichols made consecutive 3s to cut the lead to four.
With 0.06 seconds left in the first quarter, Nichols shifted away from Wilson to receive an inbound pass from Marcus Azor and, with no hesitation, knocked it down for his eighth point in the quarter.
Ty Nichols celebrates after one of his numerous buckets versus Boeheim’s Army on Monday. BA couldn’t do anything to stop Nichols, who poured in 36 points on 13-of-20 shooting. Courtesy of The Basketball Tournament
The door was creeping open. If anybody were to break it down, it would be Nichols. Another eight points brought his total to 16 entering the third quarter, while We Are D3’s deficit remained at six.
A lefty layup tied proceedings at 45. Consecutive 3s from Jacob Gilyard and Buddy Boeheim opened a six-point gap. It started to diminish after Nichols picked the pocket of Jimmy Boeheim, which eventually led to a Sahmi Willoughby tip-in.
On the ensuing We are D3 possession, an Azor perimeter drive collapsed Griffin’s defense. As all five of Boeheim’s Army players on the court retreated to the paint, Nichols cut from the corner to the top of the 3-point line. Once he received the ball, he blew by Charles Pride and smoothly put up a right-handed floater, which tied the game at 51.
Isolated with former Kansas star Frank Mason III, Nichols crossed over to his left and rose again for a patented floater, which Jimmy couldn’t reach, to tie the game once more. Two free throws from Nichols, who entered the fourth quarter with 26 points, left the game deadlocked at 57.
Nichols was left scoreless in the fourth quarter until 4:34 remained, when he hit a deep 3 over Buddy. As the game entered the Elam Ending, someone had to take over. Boeheim’s Army started to go cold. Nichols’ name was set to be etched in TBT history. All he had to do was finish it off.
Yet, a fourth foul 16 seconds into the Elam Ending temporarily shut down his scorching momentum. Four and a half minutes later, he was back. A controversial foul call sent Nichols to the line, where he sank two out of three shots to move We Are D3 within two points of the upset.
A Chris McCullough layup and Buddy 3 crawled it back to 78 each. Davis Dakquan’s free throw put We Are D3 within one with the ball. It’d be bold not to give it to Nichols, even though he was doubled when he received it from Davis on the inbound.
He started eye-to-eye with Hughes, who was heavily guarding Nichols’ right hand. The Keene State alum quickly switched to his left hand and blew by Hughes. The only person standing in his way was Wilson. Gilyard shifted over as Nichols switched to his right and threw up a floater at the block.
Ballgame.
“He is just taking advantage of the opportunity. He’s gotten better since he left college and he’s one of those guys that’s really shifty,” Griffin said. “Sometimes with guys like that, when they get it going, you gotta do something to disrupt it. I was just like ‘I don’t want to let the other guys get going too, while this guy’s going.’”
Boeheim’s Army assembled one of its best TBT squads ever. Just look at some of the names. All of them are highly regarded Syracuse or D-I athletes. But it was a 28-year-old former D-III player who ended Boeheim’s Army hopes of a first TBT title since 2021.
“Small schools can play too. That’s all it’s about. And we won some money too,” Nichols said.
