Tuesday, April 7, 2009

2009 NCAA Tournament - Best Ending

Villanova 78, Pitt 76: A battle between Big East turned out just how most expected it too - a slugfest. Villanova landed the first punch, jumping out to a quick 18-8 lead. But as you would expect from this Panther squad, they were not going to go away. They went on an 8-0 run, sparked by a Fields triple and capped by a Blair three-point play, which cut the lead to 22-20. Villanova would cling to a one possession lead for a while, but another three by Fields, this one a tough step-back J, tied the game up at 30. Sam Young hit a pair from the charity stripe with 4 seconds left in the half to give Pitt a 34-32 lead heading into the break.

The second half was much of the same, with the teams trading the lead several times. eventually, Pitt would take a 67-63 lead with 3:26 left on the clock. But Villanova would respond. Dwayne Anderson and Corey Fisher would score 10 of Villanva's point during an 13-5 run which opened up a 76-72 lead after a Reggie Redding free throw with 20 seconds left. Words wouldn't do the last 20 seconds justice, so just watch the ending (the video clip starts with 46.9 seconds left, but its worth it):



Honorable Mentions

Siena 74, Ohio State 72 2OT: Great endings to regulation and both overtimes.



Wisconsin 61, Florida State 59 OT: Trevon Hughes finishes a three-point play with 2.0 left in OT to advance Wisconsin.


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