Lebanon Valley won Walnut and Bronze in men's basketball 1994, in a controversal ending. Lebanon Valley athletics photo

By Ryan Tipps
D3sports.com

In 1994, Buffalo was abuzz about the little guy.

In the grand scheme of the NCAA Division III tournament: "Nobody expected Lebanon Valley to do anything. It was pretty much we were lucky to be there."

Mike Rhoades says that not because his team that year lacked talent or coaching or determination. Instead, that statement reflects the school's obscure roots, drawn from Pennsylvania's coal country. And those roots ushered one of the smallest -- and perhaps one of the most unexpected -- teams to national-championship status.

Lebanon Valley's student population numbered only about 850; the opponent, New York University, edged closer to 49,000. The disparity brings to mind any number of biblical, classical or cinematic comparisons. But the teams were more balanced in postseason experience, each making their first appearance in the championship game.

Yet, when March 19 ended, what overshadowed the entire night was just one play. In just 2.9 seconds, a controversy was born.

Lebanon Valley controlled much of the tempo of the game, though NYU took the lead in the waning minutes. In those last couple of seconds, with the score at 55-53, forward Jason Say inbounded a pass with the main goal of getting the ball to Rhoades, an All-American point guard and the night's scoring leader.

The subsequent touches and timing of that last basket has created an arc of speculation.

"We ran a play for him [Rhoades], we did get it to him, and he missed," Say remembers. "John Harper got a rebound, kind of like a pass on the opposite side where I took the ball out of bounds. And I more or less just stepped in and the ball just came right to me after it skipped off the backboard. I just tapped it back in."

Whether the shot was released before time expired has sparked debates -- both friendly and fierce -- from those who played, those who filled the stands and those who watched the video.

After the fray, for those who looked upward, the red light was on.

Thinking the Violets had won, some fans called friends and family in New York City to report the news, while others began to pour onto the court -- at least until all of their celebrations were muted by a realization. Although the authenticity of the basket is in doubt, there is no question that the referee counted the basket, sending the tie game into overtime.

For both teams, there was 5 more minutes of work to be done.

"I think the thing about it was that it put us into overtime, it didn't win the game," said Pat Flannery, who was Lebanon Valley's coach at the time. "I think that as a group we'd won a game before in overtime, it was huge to the school, and it was huge for everybody. We'd played a good NYU team. I think my reaction was that you're so caught up in the moment of the game, that you're just looking, and when it counted, you go back to coaching and now you go to overtime."

NYU coach Joe Nesci quickly looked to regroup his squad.

"Everyone knew it was controversial at the time. What I tell my guys is, ‘We didn't lose the game on the shot. We just sent it into overtime. Now's our chance. We have to win it now.' "

The Violets got off to a roaring start, tallying the first four points of overtime. But as overtime wound down, the Flying Dutchmen pulled away and capped a 66-59 victory for Division III's national title.

According to a New York Times report about the game, referee Gregg Bennett, who signaled the points for that controversial basket in regulation, didn't stick around long after the game. He was seen darting off the court, only to be comforted later by alternate official Roger MacTavish. "It was a great call," the Times reporter heard MacTavish tell Bennett. MacTavish did not return calls seeking comment for this story.

Remembering 1994 "What I remember the most is a group of kids, mostly local kids … they were kids that were competitive, tough kids from the coal region. They competed every day. Now, they weren't all completely polished, but they were all kids who brought something different." -- Pat Flannery, Lebanon Valley head coach "It wasn't only a special time to us, it was to everyone in that community that latched onto the team." -- Jason Say, Lebanon Valley forward "I remember the game being a real tug of war, meaning it wasn't easy to get really good looks." -- Joe Nesci, New York University head coach "We just had to live with the call as it was made at that point. ... I was just [thinking], all right, we got to win the overtime." -- Adam Crawford, New York University shooting guard "We just played. We were pretty smart basketball players. … I don't think we were ever a team that ever got rattled." -- Mike Rhoades, Lebanon Valley point guard

Lebanon Valley, whose fans outnumbered those of any other Final Four team, had created a legend in its run to the top spot. In the semifinals, Wittenberg, one of the most talked-about teams in the country, let a 15-point lead slip away and lost in overtime to the Flying Dutchmen.

"The thing for us," Flannery says, "was that this was unchartered territory for this school. … To go to the Final Four -- and I think there were times that we had a good team -- but the year before was the first time the school had ever been to the NCAA [tournament]. … Our name wasn't prevalent in the Final Four. We were playing Wittenberg in the first round, which is a giant, then playing New York University, which is a giant. And to get there, we beat Amherst, which is a giant. All the way along, we're making inroads, and as we're going along, we can play with these people."

Rhoades, who now coaches at Randolph-Macon in Virginia, confidently points out that "our approach to that weekend was that we were going to find ways to win, and make no excuses about it."

That dovetailed with the Violets' improvement over the years and their route to the finals in 1994. Though it was NYU's first trip to final four, the year before, the team lost in the Sweet 16. And the season before that, it was one and out in the postseason. But development and growth were there.

"It was cool to have made it that far because each year in the tournament, we went one step further," said Adam Crawford, a shooting guard for NYU who, along with Rhoades, was named co-outstanding player of the game. "I think our team's mentality, win or lose, probably had just developed over those few weeks. On to the next thing, on to the next challenge. I'm sure we got caught up in it, but it was probably after the fact that it kept going and kept getting bigger."

He notes, "All in all, I don't think we left bitter or anything like that."

Adam Crawford was named co-Most Outstanding Player of the 1994 national title game. NYU athletics file photo

True to spirit, Nesci's comments after the game have imprinted significantly on the legacy of the championship game for the simple reason that they were themselves of high spirit.

He did not complain. He did not criticize.

And, most of all, he did not cheapen.

Say, the player who made the controversial basket, remembers: "The New York University coach did one of the classiest things. He said, ‘You know what, the plays even themselves out.' He was like, ‘They came, they won the game in overtime. Let's move on.'"

Even today, 15 years after the event, Nesci maintains that notion.

"It was one call," he said, "and whether it was the right call or the wrong call, the reality was that it was one call. And that's what happens in games."

Crawford, the NYU star, liked what he saw in his teammates and in his coach.

"It was a great experience for us, and I think we handled it well," Crawford said, recalling the game and the post-game news conference. "I remember a guy telling us afterwards that it was one of the first times he saw all the reporters in the interview room give an ovation to the players from the losing team. I think it was probably a reflection on the call and on the fact that it didn't ruin anyone's life. We didn't go in there cursing or going crazy after the fact. And our coach handled it with class when the reporters tried to push the envelope a little bit."

For the Lebanon Valley players who walked away as national champions in 1994, what they carry away from the season are the friendships as much as the shared success. The former players are still just a phone call -- or an email or a text message -- away, and most years a group of them gathers together with their families at Jersey shore.

At NYU, the players from that era share a similar closeness. The team in '94 didn't have any seniors, so the junior leaders who ushered the Violets into the playoffs grew up together. Crawford notes that in Brooklyn, he still lives near one of his former teammates.

With the history-making performance and the controversy that surrounded the end-game scenario, Say knows that his name will forever be a factor in discussions.

"To this day," he said, "it's always what I'll be kind of remembered for, which is a good thing. There are a lot of things you can be remembered for. … I remember coach Flannery saying at the end of the game that ‘you guys don't even know what you did.'"

What that little coal-region college did was create a legacy.