The House of ‘Paign knocked off the top-seeded Carmen’s Crew in The Basketball Tournament to advance to the quarter-finals. Led by another great performance from Mike Daum — 23 points and 8 rebounds — the House of ‘Paign defeated the defending champions, 76-68.

Daum offensively was a huge part of the House of ‘Paign’s win. He was their go-to scorer with an efficient 8-10 from the field and 3-3 from three. To go along with Daum, Andrés Feliz provided 15 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists while being guarded by one of the best perimeter defenders in the tournament, Aaron Craft.

“[Aaron Craft] is a tough defender, but at the same time I’m just trying to run the same plays and help my team win,” Feliz said.

A back and forth first quarter saw the lead change six times. The House of ‘Paign finished off the first quarter with a 7-2 run and a lead of 19-15. Defense led the way for the House of ‘Paign as Carmen’s Crew shot just 29% from the floor through one quarter.

The House of ‘Paign came out hot in the second quarter as they took a 31-20 lead with just under six minutes left in the half, but Carmen’s Crew immediately stormed back. Led by five three pointers from Jon Diebler and Demetri McCamey, Carmen’s Crew grabbed the lead and went into the half up 44-39.

After Carmen’s Crew grew their lead to nine points early in the third quarter, an Aaron Craft injury swung momentum back to the House of ‘Paign, giving them back the lead. House of ‘Paign ended the quarter on a 17-6 run and took a 58-56 lead.

House of ‘Paign were unable to put the game away, but a Daum three right before the four-minute mark gave the team a four-point lead heading into the Elam ending with a target score of 76.

The finale turned into the Kyle Vinales show as he scored six of the House of ‘Paign’s final 8 points, including the game winning floater to advance House of ‘Paign to the Elite Eight. Vinales finished with 16 points and 3 steals, and was the spark of the bench for House of ‘Paign during crucial stretches.

In spite of the fact that the House of ‘Paign led for majority of the second half, the team never felt comfortable, even at the end.

“Going into that Elam ending, even when we were just two points away the game was not over yet,” Daum said. “Crazy things have happened, they hit two threes and their right back in it. We were so focus on what we needed to do to finish that game.”

The House of ‘Paign are now 2-0 in this tournament with Mike Latulip as the head coach, but as stated by Latulip, he has not quit his day job quite yet. The House of ‘Paign will face Red Scare, the Dayton Alumni representatives, in the quarter finals of the tournament this Friday.