The Stars of Storrs, the team built around UConn alums, came up short in the Round of 16, losing to We Are D3, 76-68, at Syracuse on Wednesday night. Their run in The Basketball Tournament is over.
The Stars, who won the first two games in dramatic fashion, let an early 13-point lead slip away, outscored 33-10 over a stretch in the second and third quarters. They surged back to within two, but in the “Elam Ending,” they were held without a field goal.
Former players from Connecticut’s D3 schools delivered the knock-out blow. Sam Peek, who played three years at Wesleyan before finishing his college career at Stetson, scored four of the eight point needed in the final stretch, then assisted on the winning basket by David Murray, who played at Connecticut College.
UConn alums ‘Stars of Storrs’ fight their way to the Sweet 16 in million-dollar tournament
We Are D3, a team of former Division III players, knocked out Boeheim’s Army, the host Syracuse alumni team, and UConn’s alumni squad to win the regional and move on to the quarterfinals. TBT has a $1 million payout for the champion.
Ryan Boatright, the GM and captain, who was the top scorer and big shot-maker in the Stars’ victories over the Brown Ballers and Green Mountain Men, was compromised, playing through an ankle injury in this game, shooting 1-for-7, though he had seven assists. RJ Cole led the Stars with 15 points, non-UConn participants Isaiah Whitehead and Eli Thomas each had 14.
For the D3 players, Marcus Azor scored 18, Ty Nichols 16, Murray 14 and Peek 11 points, with nine rebounds.
Two former Huskies joined the Stars in time for the Round of 16 match, Cole and wing Terry Larrier. Cole scored five points, including a 3-pointer off a feed from Boatright early in the second quarter as the UConn alums jumped out to a 33-20 lead. Two non-Huskies, Thomas from Clemson and Kassim Nicholson from Tennessee State, gave the Stars an advantage of up front and did most of the early scoring, combining for 16 of the first 33 points.
The Division 3 players chipped away and pulled within four points as Azor, out of UMass-Dartmouth, scored 13 in the first half, after which the Stars of Storrs held the lead, 40-36, scoring last on a Larrier field goal.
Murray made a steal and passed to Azor for a dunk that gave We Are D3 a 42-40 lead in the opening minutes of the third quarter. Boatright, playing with an ankle injury, was struggling to score and defend Azor. Nichols, from Keene State, the D3 players top scorer throughout the tournament, got the hot hand to help his team open up a double-digit lead.
Ryan Boatright’s bucket lifts UConn’s ‘Stars of Storrs’ to first-round TBT win
Cole began to get into the offense and the Stars stabilized the game, but still trailed 60-53 at the start of the fourth quarter. Isaiah Whitehead’s three-point play pulled the Stars to within four points as the Elam Ending loomed. Boatright got his first field goal with 5 minutes left to make it a 3-point game, then Cole’s 3-pointer pulled the Stars to within two, 68-66.with 3:59 left, at which point the clock was shut off, the target score to win the game was set at 76, so the Stars would have to outscore We Are D3 10-7 to advance. They were outscored 8-2.
The D3 players hit six free throws to move to the brink of clinching it. Peek got a rebound and assisted to Murray for the winning basket.
Originally Published: July 23, 2025 at 7:27 PM EDT
