SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) -John Bryant scored on a layup with less than a second remaining to give Santa Clara an 89-88 overtime victory over Texas El Paso in the championship game of the Cable Car Classic on Tuesday night.
The Miners (6-5) had the lead and the ball with just under 3 seconds remaining before James Rahon stole an inbound pass. One of the officials thought a timeout was called and blew his whistle. He took responsibility for the mistake and awarded the Broncos (7-7) the ball underneath their own basket, leading to the winning score.
oing to justify why it happened, it just happened. You’d rather have it left on the court for the players to decide but weird things happen.”
Miners coach Tony Barbee saw it a little differently.
“It’s disappointing to feel robbed,” he said. “I know what we saw and we saw the coach and the kid call timeout. I’ve never felt so violated in my life. We won this game but it was taken away from us.”
Stefon Jackson scored a career-high 44 points and became the Miners’ career leading scorer. He banked in a 3-pointer with less than a second remaining in regulation to tie it at 78. Randy Culpepper added 17 points.
Bryant, the tournament MVP, had 33 points and 17 rebounds. Kevin Foster had 17 points, Rahon added 14 and Perry Petty had 13.
Add A Comment