Last second tip-in gives Salukis 66-64 victory

The basketball was rolling around the rim.

SIU guard Kent Williams and Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Ronnie Jones stood at the three-point line and anxiously watched.

UW-Milwaukee’s Dylan Page was just landing from a failed block attempt of Darren Brooks’ lay-up try. His teammates Justin Lettenberger and Jason Frederick stood on the right side of the basket along with Saluki forward Brad Korn and watched as the ball rolled out.

SIU’s Jermaine Dearman leaped up in the air, but his aim was off and the jump was for naught.

Then the left arm of Stetson Hairston rose above the rest of the players and tipped the ball toward the rim with two-tenths of a second remaining on the game clock.

Everyone took a breath as the ball sat on the rim for what seemed like an eternity before falling in and giving the Salukis a 66-64 victory over UW-Milwaukee in Saturday afternoon’s ESPN Bracket Buster Game. The last-second tip-in helped the Saluki’s avoid overtime and kept alive their hopes for an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.

Pandemonium ensued as a rowdy Dawg Pound erupted. Fans rushed the court and surrounded Hairston and the rest of the Salukis. They jumped up and down in front of the ESPN2 cameras as they celebrated their intense nail-biting victory.

The tip-in was Hairston’s only two points of the second half, and following the game, he was still in a state of disbelief over how the game had ended.

He attributed his heads-up play to simple instinct.

“I just went in there, got in position to try to get a rebound because what if it came out?” Hairston said. “I didn’t know if he was going to make it for sure, and it came off right and I just jumped in there and tipped it in.”

UW-Milwaukee guard Clay Tucker, who was doing a spectacular job of harassing Brooks on the play before a spin move left him behind, said it was hard to take the loss when he felt the Panthers should have won.

He said it all came down to a “mental slippage” in leaving Hairston free on the play and not getting a body on him.

“Look what happens,” Tucker said. “It always comes back to bite you.”

The winning points were set up by a defensive stand by the Salukis (19-5, 13-2 Missouri Valley Conference) on the other end of the court.

With just more than 20 seconds remaining, Jones was being harassed by a Saluki defender near the baseline when he threw the ball toward halfcourt.

No Panther player was in the vicinity, but Tucker made a sensational play in chasing down the ball. He signaled a mid-air timeout to avoid being called for an over and back with four seconds left on the shot clock and 19.1 on the game clock.

SIU center Sylvester Willis knocked the inbound pass by Tucker, leaving the Panthers (21-6, 12-2 Horizon League) with just three seconds to get a shot off. Tucker got the next pass in to Page, who gave it back to Tucker. He rolled left and fired a decent shot from just inside the three-point line.

The shot went in and out and was knocked out of bounds by Page, giving the Salukis the ball with 12 seconds left.

UW-Milwaukee head coach Bruce Pearl was not mad with the shot selection on the last play and said it was the best they could do with the time available.

“With three second left on the shot clock and you get the ball in the hands of your best player and he gets an open look, I wasn’t unhappy with the shot,” Pearl said.

Williams said the Salukis knew they had to get a defensive shutout on the series and if they did get a shot off, don’t let them get the rebound and have an easy put-back for the win.

“We had to say no matter what, don’t let them get the rebound,” Williams said. “If they make it they make it, but we’ve got to get a hand in their face. We’ve got to get this rebound and not give them a chance.”

The Salukis did not give the Panthers a chance, and the rest is history.

SIU must win its final three regular-season games and rack up enough wins in the MVC tournament to remain in contention for a spot in the Big Dance.

Reporter Jens Deju can be reached at [email protected]