WATCH: Former Auburn basketball star Danjel Purifoy drills game-winning three in The Basketball Tournament
A team with several former Auburn Tigers’ basketball players is moving onto the second round of The Basketball Tournament — a 64-team single-elimination tournament where the winning team gets $1 million to split amongst the group. Team War Ready got their first win in TBT history on Sunday afternoon, when former Tiger Danjel Purifoy delivered a game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer against Team Woco Showtime, to lift his team to a thrilling 70-67 victory.
Check it out.
Purifoy hit the dagger to hit the target score for War Ready. The game was very back-and-forth with eight ties and 17 lead changes throughout. War Ready had five players score in double figures in the winning effort. Former Auburn standouts Purifoy (11 points) and Quantez Robertson (10 points) combined for 21 points between them. Former Tiger Mustapha Heron also stuffed the stat sheet with nine points and corralled six rebounds–leading the team on the glass.
Fletcher Magee, the NCAA’s all-time leader in three-pointers, poured in a game-high 15 points in the loss for WoCo Showtime, a team full of former Wofford Terriers. The game was played in Charleston Coliseum in Charleston, West Virginia.
War Ready’s Roster features six former Auburn players: Bryce Brown, Mustapha Heron, Quantez Robertson, Danjel Purifoy, Malik Dunbar, and T.J. Dunans.
Before moving onto Auburn, Purifoy spent some time at Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Virginia. As a senior for the Tigers during the 2019-2020 season, he stuffed the stat sheet with 8.5 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game.
Bryce Brown was a key part of one of the best teams in Auburn basketball history, when he helped guide the Tigers all the way to the Final Four in 2019, where they lost in a heartbreaker, 63-62, to the eventual national champion Virginia Cavaliers. He was named second team All-SEC that season, as well.
Quantez Robertson became the all-time steals leader during his time at Auburn with 210.
War Ready will face off against the winner of The Bucketneers vs. Fully Loaded on Tuesday.