All-American Ryan Bruns and the Red Scare bow out of The Basketball Tournament in Columbus Regional finals with 85-71 loss to Carmen's Crew

July 21, 2019

By Tim Glon

COLUMBUS — Ohio Northern All-American Ryan Bruns (Chickasaw/Marion Local) and the third-seeded Red Scare were eliminated from The Basketball Tournament (TBT) in the finals of the Columbus Regional with an 85-71 loss to top-seeded Carmen's Crew in the regional finals on Sunday afternoon at the Capital Center.

In 15 minutes of action, Bruns went 0-for-3 from the floor with an offensive rebound.

In three games of TBT, the Ohio Northern civil engineering graduate averaged 6.3 points and 4.0 rebounds in more than 18 minutes of playing time per game.

"This was a terrific learning experience," Bruns said. "I think we ran out gas a little bit in the third quarter. It was tough playing with only seven guys and playing three days in a row. The guys from Dayton were great though. They were very helpful and I am glad I was able to be a part of this. My goal is to play professionally in Europe and playing in TBT will hopefully help my career."

The Red Scare led 19-15 after the first period and trailed 42-40 at halftime, but Carmen's crew opened the second half on a 14-3 run to go up 56-43 with 4:25 left in the third quarter and never looked back.

The games were shown live on ESPN and can be watched on replay on any of the ESPN platforms.

With the exception of Bruns, the Red Scare are comprised of University of Dayton basketball alumni, while Carmen's Crew is made up primarily of Ohio State alumni.

TBT is a 64-team tournament of top-notch professional basketball, featuring college alumni teams, international basketball stars, ex-NBA players and future NBA players competing in a single-elimination 5-on-5 tournament.

The top-seeded Carmen's Crew will move on to Championship Weekend to play for the $2 million, winner-take-all prize in Chicago from August 1-6.

In the Elam Ending, the target score for winning the game is determined by adding eight points to the leading team's score at the first dead ball with less than 4:00 left in the fourth quarter.

Bruns helped the Red Scare to an 108-82 first round victory over The Region on Friday, scoring 13 points and grabbing 8 rebounds. He also made the game-winner, knocking down two free throws to finish the game after the Red Scare led 100-73 entering the Elam Ending.

On Saturday, Bruns scored six points, including a baseline drive for a dunk, and grabbed three rebounds in a thrilling 80-78 win over seventh-seeded Mid-American Unity.

He was not the only player from the Ohio Athletic Conference to play in the finals game, as Otterbein All-American and 16-year professional veteran Jeff Gibbs played center for the Crew.

Bruns was named Second Team All-America by D3hoops.com for the second consecutive season in 2018-19.

He was a Second Team All-American by D3hoops.com and the NABC and was a First Team All-Region pick by both organizations last year.

Bruns was also named Second team All-Region by the National Basketball Coaches Association and played in the Reese's NABC Division III Men's Basketball All-Star game on March prior to the NCAA Division III National Championship game at the War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Ind.

He scored a game-high 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead the West All-Stars to a 104-101 victory over the East All-Stars.

Bruns is also a three-time All-OAC honoree, earning First Team honors in 2018 and 2019 and Second Team honors as a sophomore in 2017.

The 2018 OAC Player of the Year, Bruns concluded his outstanding collegiate career with 1,686 career points, which ranks fourth all-time in program history.

Additionally, he owns the program record with 250 blocked shots, sits third in made field goals (643), is fifth in made free throws (366), and ranks 11th in rebounding (723) at Ohio Northern.

He has also named the OAC Player of the Week five times during his career.