Team Colorado’s run in The Basketball Tournament (TBT) was short-lived.

The squad made up of former Buffs players lost in the first round of the annual, 64-team tournament, 70-68, Wednesday in Dayton, Ohio to Men of Mackey, a Purdue alumni team.

Men of Mackey’s Isaiah Wilkerson banked in a jumper near the free throw line in the fourth quarter to break a 68-68 deadlock and give his team the win by reaching the target score of 70.

TBT uses the Elam Ending, in which a team wins by reaching a certain point total, not when the clock expires. That point total is determined by adding eight points to the leading team’s total at the first stoppage in play in the final four minutes of regulation.

In Team Colorado’s case, it was leading 62-61, but had already seen its advantage trimmed quite a bit. It had led by as many as 10, 60-50, with 7:01 remaining after a layup from Dallas Walton. From there, the Men of Mackey outscored Team Colorado by a 20-8 margin. During that time, the former Buffs made just two of their seven shots while their opponent made eight of its final 11 attempts. Prior to that, the former Boilermakers were just 17 of 47 (36.2%) from the field. Team Colorado also missed two free throws in the final seven minutes on a day in which its players went 14 of 17 from the charity stripe.

Guard Shannin Sharpe, who played for the Buffs from 2009-12 before transferring to Cal Poly Pomona, and forward Jeriah Horne, who played for the Buffs in 2020-21 before transferring back to Tulsa for his final season, led all Team Colorado players with 13 points apiece, with Horne adding eight rebounds. Evan Battey also finished in double figures, pitching in 11 points.

As a group, Team Colorado shot 46.3% from the field, but 22.2% from 3-point range, a stark contrast to Men of Mackey, who went 40% from beyond the arc.