Down two with six tenths of a second remaining and the length of the court to travel, the odds were stacked against the Oakland Golden Grizzlies.
But a crafty concoction by head coach Greg Kampe allowed Oakland to force overtime and knock off Youngstown State in the first round of the Horizon League Tournament Tuesday night.
You'll see Kampe's strategy play out at the 1:57 mark of the highlight. As Oakland's inbounder Mitch Baenzinger runs the baseline guarded by Youngstown State's Fletcher Larson, Oakland's Travis Bader sneaks into Larson's path. Larson really has no chance of stopping his momentum that quickly and plows into Bader, drawing a foul.
Bader is shooting 94 percent from the free-throw line this season. Talk about making a low-percentage play into a high-percentage one.
The senior guard made both of the free throws and the Grizzlies pulled out a 96-92 overtime victory.
After the game, Kampe said he verified that the official would call a foul if it played out how he drew it up.
It did.
Oakland's hopes of dancing remain alive, while Youngstown State goes home — March madness, indeed.
(h/t The Dagger)
