By Hal McCoy
Pittsburgh, PA. — The final 26 seconds was played like a recorded television show on fast forward.
A blur. Some plays that had everybody saying, “What just happened. . .oh, wait a second, now what happened?”
Even the University of Dayton’s final hero, one hero among several, couldn’t recall exactly what happened.
All Amael L’Etang remembers is seeing Jordan Derchak’s game-dying shot bounce high off the rim and it look as if the Flyers would lose by one point to Saint Louis in the semifinals of the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament.
But the 7-foot-1 L’Etang reached high with his 747 wing-span and tap it in with 0:00.6 on the clock.
It gave the Flyers a 70-69 hard scrabble victory over Saint Louis, the No. 1 seed, and a spot in Sunday’s finals, a bid to the NCAA tournament awaiting the winner.
The Final Countdown began withg 26 seconds left. Saint Louis led, 66-65, and was set to inbounds the ball. But Billikens star Robbie Avila couldn’t find a loose teammate and was whistled for a five-second violation.
Dayton ball.
Jacob Conner, whom the UD coaches implore to take shots when he is open and seldom does, had taken one shot the entire game and missed it.
This time, with 11 seconds left, he drained a three to put UD ahead 68-66.
Saint Louis flew down the floor and Avila unleashed a deadly three with seven seconds left to put the Billikens back on top, 69-68.
Everybody in the PPG Paints Arena — the ushers, concessionaires, the security folks and certainly the Saint Louis folks — knew Derkack would put his head down and snow plow his way to the basket.
It was his day. . .28 points on 6 of 12 shooting, 4 of 7 from three and 12 of 15 from the foul line.
Even before the final play, the UD cheering section showed it appreciation midway through the second half by chanting, “Jordan Derkack, Jordan Derkack.”
And that’s the way it unfolded. Down the lane he went, up went the shot. Miss. But L’Etang, who had only two baskets up to that time, tipped it in.
“That was crazy, the last 30 seconds,” said L’Etang. “Jacob Conner got the three, then they got the three (Avila). . .” And then L’Etang said things go blank about his game-winning tip-in.
“To be honest, I am just like. . .I don’t know what happened,” he said. From there he wants to watch himself on replay to see how a skinny 7-foot-1 Frechman saved his team’s season.
“I was just following the ball. . .I don’t know. . .I just did my best to put the ball back in the rim,” he said.
He may not remember how it all went down, but he definitely becomes part of UD legend for that one quick-reaction game-saver and season-saver.
But it was Derkack Day in PPG Paints Arena. He painted a perferct game, but was almost at a loss for words afterward.
“Ah. . .man. . .it was amazing, man,” he said slowly. “We worked so hard for this moment as a group. Our coaches have worked so hard late nights looking at film, late nights figuring out what are we going to go to.
“I’m just proud of this group and individually I’m proud of the work I’ve put in and I think it’s paid off,” he added.
He thinks? Without Derkack down the stretch of several wins this season, the Flyers would be on the outside looking in.
It was a wild, furious, but unusual final few minutes.
Derkack scored 28 points in 27 1/2 minutes — a point a minute. He entered the game in the second half with 13:42 left and UD down, 49-39.
As always with Derkack, it was like inserting a new battery into a dead voice recorder.
Over the next 13 minutes, it was all Derkack (16 points) and Javon Bennett (8 points) — 24 points, the only two to score as the Flyers closed to within one, 64-63.
“My shots were just falling tonight,” said Derkack, “Credit to my coaches, they always have confidence in me to take those and I was feeling good tonight.”
The only thing Derkack apparently didn’t what that it was an afternoon game, not a night game.
Nevertheless.
“Credit my teammates, they were putting me in position, especially around the basket to get baskets or get fouled,” he added.
Finally, Derkack and Bennett got help after scoring 28 straight. Keonte Jones made two free throws, Conner hit his three and L’Etang tipped in the game-winner.
And things got bizarre as time dwindled.
With UD ahead, 52-51, the Flyers had a one-on-one fast break with Bryson Heard headed hoopward. Suddenly, an official’s whistle stooped things.
The call? No call. In inadvertent whistle that stopped a sure-cinch layup.
With 2 1/2 minutes left, there was a scramble on the floor and a Saint Louis player grabbed it and called time. UD coach Anthony Grant risked a technical foul by rushing the officials far away from the Flyer bench. He got away with it.
Then came what seemed like a quick ‘five-second’ whistle on Avila that gave UD the ball late in the game, a call made bu the same official who blew the inadvertent whistle. A makeup call?
And after L’Etang tipped in the game-winner, teammate DeShayne Montgomery rushed off the bench to give L’Etang a hug on the floor.
That should have been a technical foul on Montgomery for leaving the bench to run on the floor when 0:00.6 still remained.
But what official would have the intestinal fortitude to call it? Either no official saw it or if one or all did, it was ignored.
Instead, Saint Louis made a futile full-court pass and once again UD fans began changing, “Jordan Derkack, Jordan Derkack.”
Well, it is hard to chant, “Jordan Derkack, Jovan Bennett, Jacob Conner, Keonte Jones, Amael L’Etang,” and, yes, “Anthony Grant.”
They all deserved their own chants.
Said Grant, “I’m extremely proud of the fight that our guys have showed all year and have a game like that with the magnitude of the game. . .for our guys just to stay the course and show the resiliency they’ve shown all year.”
Staying the course meant hanging tight with nine lead changes and three ties.
Saint Louis owned the biggest lead of the game at 11 points and held a lead for 29 minutes and 21 seconds.
But it was that last second tick that meant the most, meant it all. And when the horn blared, Dayton was on top.
And what did the Flyers earn? A third crack at Virginia Commonwealth, twice winners over UD this season. VCU routed St. Joseph’s, 77-64, in the other semfinal.