I stopped watching with 0:55 left in the game, when Clemson was up 65-60, and we started fouling on purpose.
Check what the final score was and holy crap, we won!
We never used come back like this. Teams usually did this to us.
I remember a coach known for saying, "Don't give up! Don't ever give up!"
The game saw the brief return of Markell Johnson in the first half, but he was not productive. He played small minutes in the second half. The officials just did not call a good game. They called phantom fouls on both teams and then let both teams play hack ball without calls. It was very inconsistent.
Until the 14 minute mark of the second half, we played very well and had control of the game, and then a series of events put Clemson back into the game and then into the lead.
A brutal non call on a Funderburk foul disallowed the Pack a visit to the charity stripe.
Then, we just flat missed a number of wide open shots, while Funderburk was called for his third foul on a battle on the perimeter arc, likely a result of the previously not called rough play under the basket. Again, the players just didn't know what would be called and what would not. Regardless, Funderburk went to the bench with just under 13 minutes left in the game.
Over the next several minutes, we would have normally buried Clemson, but they shot a number of tough baskets to hang around, and Wyatt Walker was not nearly as effective in defense on Clemson center Elijah Thomas as was Funderburk. When Funderburk returned to the game at the ten minute mark, Thomas was allowed to play a very physical game, including obvious push offs that went without calls. Thomas is the reason Clemson got the lead and Braxton Beverly missed a lot of quality three point shot attempts before he finally got off the snide and produced to win the game. The other problem was way too many offensive possessions where the man with the ball just dribbled and the other four just stood and watched the one man show! That has got to stop!
The result of all that is the Pack going without a FG for over six minutes of game time!
Markell started the correction with a big three, and it was basket trading until the last minute when Johnson hit another three which reasserted his presence in a big way!
The last minute of the game was amazing as a forced missed three by the Pack followed with a two point shot to put Clemon up 65-60 with 51.1 seconds left. As it turned out, that was the last field goal Clemson would score, and they needed more!
Obviously, Clemson missed a number of critical free throws and Beverly even missed one of two attempts late. Markell Johnson started the miracle with a traditional three point play. That put the Pack down 64-67 with 19.2 seconds left. Then, Clemson got bailed out on another phantom foul call that put Funderburk out of the game. Clemson's Marquez Reed was trapped in the backcourt and with the ten second clock about to expire for a turnover, the official whistled Funderburk. However, Reed bricked both his free throws to give the Pack the chance it needed! A timeout with 9.7 seconds left set up a planned inbounds pass to Beverly, which was intended to see him shoot a three, but instead saw Clemson foul on the inbounds pass and Beverly hit both shots to make it 66-67. Reed was fouled again on the inbounds and proceeded to miss both shots!
With no timeouts remaining, the Pack had to force it down court and Beverly was open from about 26 feet on the left top of the arc, and took an outlet pass and drilled the dagger, with the shot going down as the buzzer sounded!
It would be nice a couple of months from now to look back at that shot by Beverly as a turning point to really something great this season. If I was Brad Brownell the next time I came to Raleigh I would have my team spend the whole pre-game shoot around on the free throw line. Two years in a row missed free throws down the stretch cost them the game in the PNC.