Game-winning buzzer-beaters are largely spontaneous, which makes them all the more stunning.
What made the 57-55 overtime win and finish by
Central (Salina, Kan.) over Maize Tuesday so fantastic was its flawless design. And that it came after a stirring comeback.
Jordan McNelly dunked home a perfect alley-oop pass from
Rashun Allen at the buzzer, lifting the home team to the thrilling victory.
According to Arne Green of the
Salina Journal, the Mustangs trailed by eight points in the final 90 seconds of regulation to win it. They held the ball the final 1:25 of overtime (there's no shot clock in Kansas) before Central coach Doug Finch called timeout to set up the perfect play with 14 ticks left.
McNelly set a screen, he rolled and Allen's pass was almost too perfect. It almost went straight into the basket.
"We've been running the play a little bit lately and we're starting to get the timing down," Finch told Green. "It was tied, so we had nothing to lose and we said, let's finish it up with a dunk."
Said McNelly: "We were supposed to go at seven seconds. We were really lucky because we ran it too late, but once I saw I'd be able to get to the basket I knew we had it."
