James Nunnally’s shot at the buzzer sure had a lot of implications flying with it as it soared towards the rim Saturday night.
If it went in, it would give the UCSB men’s basketball team the No. 4 seed in the Big West Tournament and a first-round bye. If it didn’t fall, the Gauchos would plummet to an eighth-place finish.
They’ve got the day off Wednesday.
Nunnally pulled up and nailed a 3-pointer as time expired to lift the Gauchos to a dramatic 76-75 win over visiting Long Beach State, prompting the student section to empty onto the court in celebration.
It was the seventh win in the final eight games for the Gauchos (15-14, 8-8), who have come a long way since a February 5th loss at Fullerton that had them in the conference cellar at 8-13, 2-7.
“We didn’t dodge a bullet, we dodged a mortar shell when we were 2-7 to end up 8-8,” said coach Bob Williams. “A bullet’s way too small.”
Fellow freshman Will Brew probably built a shrine to Nunnally in his dorm room Saturday night considering the mental lapse he had in the final moments. Nunnally made a huge lay-up with seven ticks left to tie things up at 73-apiece, but Brew thought that the Gauchos still trailed and intentionally fouled T.J. Robinson on the inbounds pass.
Robinson hit both free throws and the crowd of over 3,000 stood shocked at what had just occurred. The ball was pushed up-court and found Nunnally near the top of the key for the pull-up jumper, and the stunned silence became madness just like that.
Nunnally finished with a team-high 20 points with a pair of steals and three assists, while senior Chris Devine had 15 points with three assists and three steals in his final game at the Thunderdome. Devine and classmates D.J. Posley and Nick Quick were honored in a pre-game ceremony.
“If you’re a senior and your last memory of playing here is that crowd swarming the floor and the last-second shot — it could not have been a better finish to a season and a better finish to Chris Devine’s career,” said Williams.
UCSB Sports Information Director Bill Mahoney pointed out a statistic that dulls any sympathy Gaucho fans might feel for the 49ers:
UCSB has lost on buzzer-beaters to Long Beach six times in the last 11 years.
“We owed ’em one,” said Williams.
The 49ers (15-14, 10-6) led by as many as nine points in the first half as sharpshooter Stephen Gilling went 4-for-7 from beyond the arc in the period. He would finish with 23 points and six treys. A long-ball by Donovan Morris as the half expired sent things into the locker room with the visitors up 36-31.
Jordan Weiner hit a trey with 13:45 left that put UCSB up 44-43 at the 14-minute mark, but Long Beach took it back on a Morris free-throw and held the advantage — which grew to as large as eight with nine minutes left — until the buzzer.
Paul Roemer drove and finished off a beautiful up-and-under for a 3-point play to close the Long Beach lead to 62-61 with 5:24 to go, but the 49ers responded with an easy bucket by Robinson (7-7 FG) and a trey by Gilling pushed it right back up.
Nunnally hit a big three and then slammed home a dunk off of a Roemer steal, leaving the Gauchos down three at 69-66 with 2:52 left. Nunnally hit a pair of free throws to tie it at 69-all with 1:24 remaining, but Morris hit a jumper to give the lead back to the visitors.
Devine bumbled the ball by the Gaucho bench for a costly turnover and Casper Ware hit a free throw to push the lead to 72-69 with half a minute left. Jesse Byrd dunked one home off of a Jordan Weiner assist to cut it back to one, and Morris hit a free throw to make it two at 73-71.
Nunnally’s lay-up and Brew’s blunder followed, and before the crowd could recover the uber-meaningful shot was in the air.
Enjoy the off-day Wednesday, guys, because a whole new season begins on Thursday in Anaheim.
