The dream is still alive.

The $1 million payoff still very much remains in sight for Team Colorado, the squad comprised mostly of Colorado men’s basketball alums that began play in the annual winner-take-all The Basketball Tournament on Saturday.

The fifth-seeded former Buffs prevailed, posting a 71-67 victory against Purple Reign, a squad of Kansas State alums, in a first-round battle in Wichita, Kan. Team Colorado will play the top-seeded Aftershocks, the hometown team led by former Wichita State players, in the second round on Monday night (7 p.m., Fox Sports 1).

Team Colorado received a clutch shooting performance from D’Shawn Schwartz, who went 4-for-5 from the 3-point arc before finishing with a game-high 21 points. Former NBA veteran Andre Roberson, making his Team Colorado debut, recorded nine points and a game-high nine rebounds while converting the win-clinching basket to finish off TBT’s Elam Ending.

(In the Elam Ending, the game clock is turned off at the first dead ball under the 4-minute mark of regulation, with a target winning score set eight points ahead of the winning team’s score. Team Colorado led 62-61 at the start of the Elam Ending).

The former Buffs led by seven points midway through the first quarter and held a 34-29 lead at the break. The game was tied 55-55 going into the fourth, but Team Colorado was able to make more plays down the stretch.

It wasn’t a pretty game offensively for Team Colorado, but the former Buffs leaned on tenets that would make CU head coach Tad Boyle proud — defense and rebounding — to overcome the offensive frustrations. Team Colorado shot just .367, and every player not named Schwartz combined to go just 3-for-21 on 3-pointers.

However, Team Colorado held Purple Reign to a .404 mark and outrebounded the former K-State players, 39-32. Team Colorado turned a 13-6 edge in offensive rebounds into a 12-8 advantage in second-chance points. Team Colorado also finished 20-for-23 at the free throw line.

Among the Team Colorado newcomers with no previous direct ties to the CU program, 6-foot-11 former Sam Houston State center Michael Holyfield recorded 10 points and eight rebounds. Former Cherokee Trail standout Jaizec Lottie, who has been playing overseas, authored a highlight-reel dunk while going 3-for-5 with 10 points, two rebounds, two assists and no turnovers in 22 minutes off the bench.

Former CU guard Shane Gatling also provided a spark in just 11 minutes off the bench, knocking down a 3-pointer and going 2-for-2 at the free throw line to finish with five points and three rebounds.

Aftershocks advanced on Saturday with an 86-71 win against Midtown Prestige. Monday’s winner will play in the Sweet 16 on Wednesday. After getting eliminated in a two-point decision in the first round last year, Team Colorado has won at least one game in five of its past six appearances in TBT (the former Buffs didn’t play from 2021-23).