Blue Collar U downs Americana for Autism, takes home $1 million The Basketball Tournament title

After Blue Collar U's run in The Basketball Tournament ended one game shy of the final last summer, the former Buffalo basketball stars made sure to finish the job this year.

Blue Collar U was on top of Americana for Autism from the opening tip, leading by as many as 22 points en route to an 89-67 victory in the TBT final Tuesday night in Dayton, Ohio.

Blue Collar U brings home $1 million in the winner-take-all format. Stars CJ Massinburg, Nick Perkins and Wes Clark will earn $100,000 apiece, fellow starters Blake Hamilton and Dontay Caruthers will earn $85,000 and the rest of the players and coaches will earn between $15,000 and $60,000. (Teams can split up the prize money however they want.)

«It was a tough-fought game,» Clark said in the postgame interview. «For us to get this grind-it-out win, it's just amazing — on top of the million dollars.

»[It took] preparation. We all took this thing serious. We all wanted this money; we all wanted to get back out here and compete. We knew we left some things out there last year, and we just wanted to finish the job."

Blue Collar U came up one game short of the final last season, falling in the semifinals to Team 23 after Clark's TBT ended early due to a hamstring injury. With a healthy Clark back in the fold, it was the class of this year's tournament. He led the team in scoring and hit the game-winning shot in the semifinal against Red Scare, but five different players led the team in scoring overall entering the title game.

On Tuesday, it was another balanced effort: Each quarter featured a different leading scorer. Perkins led the way with 19 points, while Massinburg had 18 points and eight assists, and Clark had 17 points.

«A lot of guys here, on this Buffalo team, have