A Maryland men’s basketball alumni team is one step closer to winning $1 million after a thrilling comeback win Tuesday in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

Shell Shock, coached by former Terps standout Juan Dixon, defeated NXT ERA Elite in the James Madison regional final of The Basketball Tournament, a 64-team event with a $1 million prize awarded to the winning team. Shell Shock won, 68-62, despite trailing by 11 points in the opening moments of the nine-minute fourth quarter.

The team looked to be on its way out of the tournament before catching fire from the field and stringing defensive stops together. Shell Shock leaned on a pair of non-Terps with Maryland ties to complete the comeback, ending the game on a 21-4 run.

Of the team’s final 21 points, former Maryland Eastern Shore guard Kevon Voyles scored six and former Coppin State wing Anthony Tarke added eight. Tarke, who played under Dixon at Coppin State in 2020-21, finished the game with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

TBT features a unique finish, known as the Elam Ending. Once there’s a stoppage at or under four minutes left in the final quarter, the clock shuts off. There then becomes a target score for winning, which is eight points above the leading team’s score. In this case, the game paused with Shell Shock leading 59-58, meaning the first team to reach 67 would win.

Tarke scored Shell Shock’s first six points of the Elam Ending before ex-Houston Christian standout Ronald March drilled an NBA-range 3-pointer to send Shell Shock into the next round. His teammates rushed the floor to celebrate as the shot went through the hoop. March led the team with 21 points.

WOW, RONALD MARCH PULLS UP FROM THE LOGO FOR THE WIN! 😱🤯@TBTTerps win the JMU Region. pic.twitter.com/IHcXCCxf4g

— TBT (@thetournament) July 23, 2025

The team is now just three wins away from capturing the TBT title, despite not having guards Melo Trimble or Eric Ayala available through the opening three games. The two former Maryland guards are nursing knee injuries but could potentially become available in the later rounds.

Former Terps standout Darryl Morsell handled facilitating duties Tuesday with Trimble and Ayala injured, finishing with 11 points, four rebounds and four assists. The 2021 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year also played a key role defensively, pressuring NXT ERA Elite guards.

Former San Jose State guard Sage Tolbert led NXT ERA Elite with 13 points. Chol Marial, a 7-footer who began his college career at Maryland, went scoreless on 0-for-6 shooting, but he did add six rebounds and two assists for NXT ERA Elite.

Diamond Stone, a former five-star recruit and Terps standout in 2015, was a nonfactor. The center scored just two points on 1-for-5 shooting in 12 minutes, as he spent most of the second half on the bench as both teams went with smaller lineups. He could play a bigger role in Shell Shock’s next game, as he averaged 19 points per game in the team’s first two wins.

Even without a meaningful second-half role, Stone was among the first players off the bench to greet his teammates during their second-half surge. He added four rebounds in the victory.

Shell Shock advances to face Best Virginia, a West Virginia alumni team, in the TBT quarterfinals on Monday at 6 p.m. The two college programs have played 39 times and met most recently in 2023, with Maryland winning an NCAA Tournament game, 67-65. Monday’s TBT game will be played at the Charleston Coliseum in West Virginia.

Have a news tip? Contact sports editor Bennett Conlin at bconlin@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/BennettConlin.

ROUND OF 16: Watch the Game Highlights from Shell Shock vs. NXT ERA Elite, 07/22/2025 pic.twitter.com/kJma0GzqsN

— TBT (@thetournament) July 23, 2025

Originally Published: July 22, 2025 at 8:56 PM EDT