The defending national champions No. 4 UConn Huskies were toppled by UCF yesterday, as were the No. 20 Florida State Seminoles by Harvard. In the Battle 4 Atlantis, the losing teams met for the consolation game, third place and bragging rights to beating a ranked team.
Unfortunately, the Seminoles will not go home happy. Forcing an overtime was too much to handle as the Huskies inched past the Noles by two points in the Bahamas tournament. This was not the low scoring affair we saw yesterday, the game ended 78-76. Michael Snaer and Deividas Dulkys led the scoring for the Noles with 20 and 14 points respectively.
Snaer missed a jumper to win the game as time expired in the second half. UConn had tied the game on three points from Ryan Boatright on the free throw line. He was sent to the line after a foul by Seminole Jeff Peterson with 0:07 left, and he tied the game under pressure. Kudos to Peterson.
After a well fought overtime, a lay up from the Noles' Bernard James tied the game with 1:29 remaining, and a +1 on a free throw gave FSU the lead - but UConn's star athlete, Shabazz Napier, made a three point jumper with 1:08 on the clock to put UConn up by two points. From there, Nole fans should buckle their seatbelt:
0:57 - Lay up by James blocked
0:55 - Offensive rebound by Dulkys
0:51 - Luke Loucks misses a 3-point jumper
0:47 - Steal by Deividas Dulkys off UConn's Napier
0:45 - Loucks fouled, misses two free throws
--- UConn drains 34 seconds off the clock ---
0:11 - James rebound after Napier misses jumper
0:02 - Snaer passed the ball
The Seminoles pass well beyond the arc, and giving the ball to rising Seminole Michael Snaer as time expired was the right decision. He threw one up before the buzzer hit 0:00, but the shot never found the net. Three turnovers and five scoring opportunities were enough to win the game for Florida State. This game was the Seminoles to lose, and lose they did.