What began last night as a celebration of newly crowned Patriot League Player of the Year Greg Sprink ended in utter disbelief for host Navy in the opening round of the league tournament.
Moments after the Midshipmen seemingly won the game on T.J. Topercer's put-back with two seconds left in triple overtime, Bucknell's John Griffin sank a 42-foot desperation shot - from just beyond half court - at the buzzer to send the Midshipmen to an agonizing 87-86 defeat before 2,158 stunned spectators at Alumni Hall.
"I had some guardian angels looking down, and they put the ball in the hole," Griffin said. "It felt good [leaving my hands]. I was just trying to get enough air. I wasn't really thinking too much."
The shot ended a game in which Navy had built a 17-point lead by late in the first half, buoyed by the hot perimeter shooting of Sprink, who finished with a career-high 37 points - also the most by a Navy player in Patriot League tournament history.
The Bison didn't take their first lead of the game until the opening moments of the first overtime.
Navy (16-14), which was the tournament's second seed, has now lost eight straight tournament games dating to 2001.
"It's heartbreaking," Navy coach Billy Lange said. "What we learned is that games are 40 minutes - or sometimes 55 minutes - and you have to play all the way to the end. It's sad to lose a game like this."
Bucknell (12-18), meanwhile will advance to Sunday's semifinals, where the Bison will face third-seeded Colgate, a 76-74 winner over Lafayette.
The Midshipmen had led from the outset, scoring the game's first seven points, then extending their lead to 21-9 on back-to-back three-pointers by Sprink.
When Sprink scored on a layup near halftime, Navy had extended its lead to 34-17. Sprink made five of eight threes to finish the half with as many points as the Bison - 24.
Midway through the second half, however, the tide began to turn for the Midshipmen, who began settling for low-percentage shots and went ice cold from the floor.
Bucknell, led by 6-11 center Todd O'Brien and guard Justin Castleberry, embarked on a 17-1 run over the next seven minutes to cut the lead to one, then forced overtime on O'Brien's layup with two seconds left.
"It was definitely hard not being out there the last six or seven minutes," said Sprink. "I had my faith in my teammates. I knew they were going to step up and make plays."
