Cincinnati, Ohio – Lucas Gentry caught a deflected 75-foot inbound pass from Aiden Pashley with 0.9 seconds remaining in regulation and hit a desperation jumper at the buzzer to give the Transylvania men's basketball team an unfathomable 63-62 win over the Mount St. Joseph University Lions on Thursday evening at the Harrington Center.
Gentry's miraculous buzzer-beater capped off a furious run of 12 points in the final 57 seconds of the game for the Pioneers, who trailed 60-51 going into the final minute of the game.
Transylvania improved to 2-1 in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference play while the Lions fell to 0-5 overall on the season.
Gentry's dramatic game-winner capped off a game-high 27 points to go with 10 rebounds on an 11 for 19 night from the field. The senior sent home 4 of 7 three-pointers for the Pioneers in a complete performance in which he saved his best for last.
After a closely-contested first half, the Pioneers carved out a 34-30 lead at halftime behind a sharpshooting 54 percent clip from the field and 11 points from Gentry.
The second half remained a neck-and-neck affair with neither team leading by more than four points for the first 17 minutes of action. Duce Ralls scored on a layup at the 13:34 mark for a 38-34 lead, Transylvania's largest of the period.
Gentry muscled his way inside for a field goal at the 4:03 mark of the second half to cut Mount St. Joseph's lead to 51-50 before the Lions responded on a 7-0 run to grab a 58-50 lead with 1:39 left in the game as the home team inched closer to victory.
Pashley split a pair of free throws with 1:27 remaining but the Lions scored on a fastbreak the other way to grab a 60-51 lead with 1:19 left in regulation.
Following a Transy foul with 57 seconds left, The Lions missed on the front end of a one-and-one free throw opportunity and the Pioneers raced down the floor where Zach Larimore found Gentry for a quick release 27-footer to cut the deficit to 60-54 with 51 seconds left in the game.
The Pioneers used a full-court press to force a steal at midcourt, leading to a putback by Will Sivills via an offensive rebound from Ralls to slice the Lion lead to 60-56 with 36 ticks remaining.
Transylvania resorted to putting Mount St. Joseph back on the line but the Lions missed on the front end of another one-and-one free throw. The Pioneers continued their comeback as Larimore powered home a ferocious drive on the left block for a three-point play, upping the run to eight straight points and a dwindling 60-59 Mount St. Joseph lead with 14 seconds remaining.
On the next possession the Pioneers forced another backcourt steal as Larimore committed the theft near the baseline and assisted Gentry for a 61-60 Pioneer lead with six seconds left.
The incredible comeback appeared to go all for naught as the Lions answered back with a wide-open layup down the lane off a Pioneer double-team with 0.9 seconds to go, taking back the lead at 62-61.
With one last gasp, Pashley scoped across the baseline from the Pioneers' backcourt and launched a full-court pass high near the left elbow towards heavy traffic. The pass was lightly deflected by a Lion and corralled by Gentry, who in one motion caught the ball and lobbed it towards the rim from 12 feet away and curled the shot through the net, giving the Pioneers an improbable win in a game that became an instant classic.
Transylvania wins it at the buzzer, beating Mount St. Joseph 63-62! Check it out in slow motion -- the clock starts on time and the ball is away before the light turns on. #d3hoops pic.twitter.com/5QGIQk96Qp
— D3hoops/Pat Coleman (@d3hoops) January 22, 2021
Larimore finished the night with 16 points, two rebounds, two steals, and one assist. Ralls added five off the bench for Transylvania to go with five rebounds.
After competing in one of the games of the year across Division III men's basketball, the teams will rematch on Saturday in Lexington for their second HCAC contest of the year. Tip-off between Transylvania and Mount St. Joseph is scheduled for January 23 at 1:00 p.m. at the Beck Center.
For more on Transylvania men's basketball, follow @TransyHoops on Twitter