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TV Host Jimmy Kimmel Beat By Sen. Ted Cruz In Charity Game

HOUSTON (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — Texas Sen. Ted Cruz triumphed over late night TV host Jimmy Kimmel in their much-hyped charity basketball game that Kimmel dubbed the Blobfish Basketball Classic.

Kimmel and Cruz 1
(credit: Ted Cruz/Twitter)

With each basket worth a single point, Cruz topped Kimmel 11-9 in a two-hour one-on-one match they agreed to abbreviate Saturday at Texas Southern University after neither appeared capable of reaching 15 points and winning by two.

The Houston Chronicle described the matchup as "a slow-motion car-crash of half-court basketball." Speaking for both men, Kimmel said: "We apologize to the game of basketball."

Kimmel and Cruz 2
(credit: Jimmy Kimmel/Twitter)

The game was born of a joke from Kimmel, who'd said the Republican senator resembled the ocean bottom-dwelling blobfish. Cruz responded by challenging Kimmel to a basketball game.

Two Houston-based charitable organizations --  Texas Children's Hospital and Generation One, an education non-profit -- are the beneficiaries. Game highlight videos are planned for Kimmel's late-night talk show program Monday night.

(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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