Weber State Basketball Alumni Classic: Bamforth MVP, Berry wins 3-point contest
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- Scott Bamforth pushes up a floater during the Weber State Basketball Alumni Classic on Saturday, June 17, 2023, in Ogden.
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- Davion Berry dribbles during the Weber State Basketball Alumni Classic on Saturday, June 17, 2023, in Ogden.
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- JJ Overton throws down a 360-degree dunk during the Weber State Basketball Alumni Classic on Saturday, June 17, 2023, in Ogden.
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- Larryn Brooks, left, and Zharia Hale embrace after Brooks made a halfcourt shot during the shooting stars contest at the Weber State Basketball Alumni Classic on Saturday, June 17, 2023, in Ogden.
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- Scott Bamforth fires a one-legged 3-pointer during the Weber State Basketball Alumni Classic on Saturday, June 17, 2023, in Ogden.
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- Scott Bamforth shoots during the 3-point contest at the Weber State Basketball Alumni Classic on Saturday, June 17, 2023, in Ogden.
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- Davion Berry shoots during the 3-point contest at the Weber State Basketball Alumni Classic on Saturday, June 17, 2023, in Ogden.
OGDEN — Some new faces, some old — but all familiar — came to the Dee Events Center for the fifth Weber State Basketball Alumni Classic hosted by Damian Lillard on Saturday night.
After Lillard signed autographs with WSU’s current men’s basketball players for more than an hour in the Dee Events Center concourse, the players took the floor for a shooting stars contest, a 3-point contest and the alumni game itself.
Here’s a rundown of everything that happened on the court Saturday.
ALUMNI GAME
Scott Bamforth (2010-13) made his presence felt in his first alumni game appearance, dropping home three long 3-pointers and a series of floaters on the way to a game-high 17 points and MVP honors as his white team defeated the purple team 102-87.
Bamforth, who is still active and playing professionally in Spain, and JJ Overton (2021-22), who played this past season in Luxembourg, got the white team out to a sizeable lead with their scoring, including a two-handed, 360-degree dunk from Overton in the first half. Ryan Richardson (2014-17) shot 4 of 9 from downtown and the white team led by as much as 22 early in the second half.
The purple team rallied back to make it a three-point game with five minutes left. Dan Henry (2005-07), who led the purple team with 16 points, rolled in a driving layup and Davion Berry (2012-14) fed Kyle Tresnak (2010-14) for a bucket to make it 78-75.
But the white team put the game away when Bamforth scored on a drive, the white team immediately stole the ball in the backcourt and Richardson drained a 3 from straight away to make the score 88-77.
The game’s top rebounder was also Henry, who had eight for the purple squad. Steve Panos (2006-10) and Brody Van Brocklin (2006-08) each grabbed seven rebounds for the white team.
Berry led the game with five assists for the purple team, while Van Brocklin dished four for the white team.
Below is a rundown of all points scored in the game.
WHITE (102)
Scott Bamforth 17
Ryan Richardson 14
Steve Panos 12
JJ Overton 11
Zach Braxton, Brenden Morris 8
David Patten, Brody Van Brocklin, Lindsey Hughey 6
Nic Sparrow, Lance Allred, James Hajek 4
Josh Noble 2
Jimmy DeGraffenreid, Nick Hansen, Shawn Moore 0
PURPLE (87)
Dan Henry 16
Davion Berry 14
Dusty Baker, Kyndahl Hill 10
Kellen McCoy, Kyle Tresnak 8
Marlon Carter 7
Kyle Bullinger, Mike Sivulich 6
Darin Mahoney 2
Pat Danley, Brett Cox, Ryan Cuff, Jason Joe 0
3-POINT CONTEST
While Ryan Richardson was the top 3-point shooter in the game, the 3-point contest that preceded it was all about Davion Berry and Scott Bamforth.
Berry, who took a year off from playing professionally this past season, matched one of Spain’s top shooters in Bamforth with 21 points apiece in the preliminary round.
The two squared off in the finals and each tallied 16 points, then Berry won the tiebreaking rematch 21-16.
The contest was held with a traditional five racks of five balls each, with four one-point balls and a two-point “money” ball on each rack, for a total of 30 possible points in a round.
Below is the full rundown for the contest.
PRELIMINARY ROUND
Scott Bamforth 21
Davion Berry 21
Ryan Richardson 16
Brody Van Brocklin 14
Nick Hansen 12
Kellen McCoy 12
Brenden Morris 11
Dusty Baker 8
FINALS
Scott Bamforth 16
Davion Berry 16
FINALS REMATCH
Davion Berry 21
Scott Bamforth 16
SHOOTING STARS
The evening began with the shooting stars competition, which tasks teams of three players in making a layup, a free throw, a 3-pointer and a half-court shot in the least amount of time to claim victory.
For the first time, women’s alumni players participated and two had a big impact. Larryn Brooks (2017-18) splashed in a half-court shot in the preliminary round to give her, Nic Sparrow (1997-2004) and Lindsey Hughey (2009-11) the best time of 15.9 seconds.
But it was another woman, Zharia Hale (2016-17), who claimed ultimate victory. She made the half-court shot to lift her, Davion Berry (2012-14) and JJ Overton to the win over the Brooks/Sparrow/Hughey team in the final round with a time of 21.2 seconds.
Below are the full results of the competition, with the player who made the half-court shot to end the round listed in parenthesis.
OPENING ROUND
Nic Sparrow, Lindsey Hughey, Larryn Brooks: 15.9 seconds (Brooks)
JJ Overton, Davion Berry, Zharia Hale: 17.2 (Overton)
Scott Bamforth, Jimmy DeGraffenreid, Julie Gjertsen Meurer: 20.7 (Bamforth)
Mike Sivulich, Kyle Bullinger, Jamie Nadolski: 28.3 (Bullinger)
Dan Henry, Ryan Cuff, Tori Allen: 28.8 (Henry)
Damian Lillard, David Patten, Crystal Howe Nye: 50.6 (Lillard)
FINALS
JJ Overton, Davion Berry, Zharia Hale: 21.2 (Hale)
Nic Sparrow, Lindsey Hughey, Larryn Brooks: 32.8 (Brooks)