The Basketball Tournament 2015: Notre Dame Play-in Game Score, Updated Bracket

The Notre Dame Fighting Alumni and Midwest Dream Squad squared off in a play-in game for the right to advance to the Super 17 at the 2015 edition of The Basketball Tournament, and the Fighting Alumni emerged with a buzzer-beating 79-77 victory Thursday evening at DePaul University in Chicago.   

After the defending champions took a two-point lead following a steal by Ben Hansbrough and three-point play from Eric Atkins, the Dream Squad tied things up thanks to two clutch free throws from point guard Mike DiNunno.     

But on the ensuing inbounds, Hansbrough and Atkins hooked up again—this time in heroic fashion. 

The Tournament's official Instagram account provided a firsthand look at the game's decisive bucket: 

With the win, the Fighting Alumni advanced to square off against Ants Alumni on Friday, when Super 17 play will officially get underway. A complete look at the bracket for the $1 million tournament can be viewed here.  

Matchup	Time
Primetime Players vs. Dirty South	10 a.m. ET
Sean Bell All-Stars vs. Overseas Elite	11:45 a.m. ET
7outz vs. Team 23	1:30 p.m. ET
LAUNFD vs. Team Utah	3:15 p.m. ET
Sideline Cancer vs. Team City of Gods	5 p.m. ET
Boeheim's Army vs. Liberty Ballers	6:45 p.m. ET
Ants Alumni vs. Fighting Alumni	8:30 p.m. ET
Illinois Hoopville Warriors vs. Armored Athlete	10:15 p.m. ET

DiNunno topped all scorers with 25 points, but Hansbrough's playmaking ability buoyed the Fighting Alumni during the game's hectic waning seconds. He finished the night with a team-high 23 points and six assists. 

"Once you're a part of the Notre Dame basketball family, you always know how to play the right way and carry that will you the rest of your life," Hansbrough said Wednesday, according to NDInsider.com's Tom Noie.   

Atkins (18 points), 2014 TBT MVP Tyrone Nash (17 points) and Tim Abromaitis (12 points) helped supplement the 2011 Big East Player of the Year's offerings all night long. By game's end, they reinforced the notion that the Fighting Alumni are among the deepest teams in this year's field. 

The Fighting Alumni led 39-35 at halftime despite a lethargic start, but the Dream Squad kept at it thanks to DiNunno's determination. Although the Dream Squad's offense devolved into a one-man show throughout the second frame, the diminutive floor general carried the offense on his back with a flurry of pull-up jumpers and crafty contortions around the rim.  

As Noie noted, DiNunno shredded the Fighting Alumni during a second-half stretch that saw him score 12 straight points for the Dream Squad: 

A monster putback slam—relayed by The Tournament on Twitter—with just over four minutes to go represented one of the Dream Squad's few second-half contributions from a player other than DiNunno: 

Early on, the 14th-seeded Dream Squad looked far more polished than the Fighting Alumni, who received a bye prior to Thursday's contest by virtue of last year's TBT title. The Irish failed to defend a flurry of ball screens adeptly throughout the first half, and it nearly cost them. 

The Dream Squad peppered the Fighting Alumni with threes over the game's first 10 minutes, with DiNunno and former New Mexico shooter Joel Box leading the way. As a team, the Midwest Regional qualifiers shot 7-of-14 from three in the first half. 

A 13-0 run midway through the opening stanza pushed the Dream Squad's lead to nine, but the Fighting Alumni remained resilient and clawed back with more aggressive blitzing schemes on pick-and-roll ball-handlers.  

It took awhile for Notre Dame's former standouts to settle in, but once they did, they looked far more aggressive and composed. Their determination to get to the rim was evident, especially when contrasted with the Dream Squad's complacency to fire away from deep.

Looking ahead to Friday's showdown, Ants Alumni should pose a stiff test for the Fighting Alumni— particularly if the Irish can't lock down on the perimeter. 

According to TheTournament.com, Ants Alumni is comprised of players from the NBA D-League's Fort Wayne Mad Ants club that captured a title during the 2013-14 season. 

Ants Alumni advanced out of the Midwest Region as the No. 2 seed, and the team's chemistry should make it a feared opponent when Super 17 play picks up on Friday.