Buzzer Beating Dunk in 1- vs. 16-seed UMass vs. Liberty Game

Dana Dingle broke the Liberty University defense with a buzzer beating dunk to let UMass 1996 escape with an 80-78 win and spoil one of the greatest performances in any of our Value Add Basketball Game's to date in a game we previewed here.

Darius McGhee scored 33 points on six 3-pointers and a 7-7 day from the line to build a 52-43 lead for our 16-seed. At that point he had outscored UMass superstar Marcus Camby 25-6 with 13:11 (22 possessions) to play. However, Camby then led a counter 27-11 run with a couple of blocked shots and several buckets to make it 70-63 UMass.

Joseph Venzant hit a 3-pointer with 2:44 (5 possessions) to play to cut it back to 71-69. Carmelo Travieso, who finished with16 points and 5 steals, then almost went from MVP to goat when he missed all three free throws, but Dingle saved him with an offensive rebound and bucket to make it 73-69.

McGhee then drew a foul to create and extra possession and hit both free throws to cut it back to 73-71. On back-to-back possessions McGhee had a steal and fast break 3-pointer, then another basket to make it 76-75 Liberty on the verge of an upset with just 53 seconds remaining. 

Edgar Padilla then hit a 3-pointer, finishing with only 6 points, to give UMass the 78-76 lead. Colin Porter then scored a game-tying bucket to make it 78-78 with 16 seconds remaining, but Dingle's dunk at the end made it 80-78 to let UMass avoid the dreaded 1- vs. 16-seed loss to await the winner of the 8- vs. 9-seed game of our 16 new teams. 

That game will feature Cornbread Maxwell's 1977 Charlotte vs. Bernard Hardin's 1974 New Mexico.

 

Pos	Liberty 2023	Pts	3pt	2pt	FT	Att	Reb	Stl	Blk	Fl	Ht	Season Actual
1-PG	Colin Porter	7	1	2	0	0	4	1	0	1	5'9	7.8 Pts, 2.6 Reb, 3.8 Ast
2-SG	Darius McGhee	33	6	4	7	7	4	2	0	3	5'9	22.8 Pts, 3.3 Reb, 3.0 Ast
3-SF	Joseph Venzant	5	1	1	0	0	7	1	0	2	6'3	4.2 Pts, 5.0 Reb, 0.4 Ast
4-PF	Kyle Rode	11	1	4	0	0	3	0	0	3	6'7	10.9 Pts, 3.5 Reb, 3.5 Ast
5-C	Blake Preston	8	0	4	0	0	5	0	2	2	6'9	6.7 Pts, 5.1 Reb, 1.4 Ast
1-PG	Brody Peebles	4	0	1	2	2	1	0	0	1	6'2	7.4 Pts, 1.8 Reb, 0.6 Ast
2-SG	Jonathan Jackson	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	6'4	1.4 Pts, 0.2 Reb, 0.1 Ast
3-SF	Isiah Warfield	2	0	1	0	0	4	0	1	2	6'5	2.9 Pts, 2.3 Reb, 0.9 Ast
4-PF	Zach Cleveland	6	0	3	0	0	3	0	0	1	6'7	3.4 Pts, 3.4 Reb, 1.8 Ast
5-C	Shiloh Robinson	2	0	1	0	0	5	0	0	2	6'7	7.6 Pts, 3.6 Reb, 0.9 Ast
	12 turnovers	78	9	20	9	9	37	4	3	18
Pos	Massachusetts 1996	Pts	3pt	2pt	FT	Att	Reb	Stl	Blk	Fl	Ht	Season Actual
1-PG	Edgar Padilla	6	2	0	0	0	2	2	0	2	6'2	8.9 Pts, 3.5 Reb, 6.7 Ast
2-SG	Carmelo Travieso	16	1	6	1	4	4	5	1	4	6'2	12.6 Pts, 3.2 Reb, 2.1 Ast
3-SF	Donta Bright	18	2	4	4	4	5	1	0	1	6'6	14.5 Pts, 5.8 Reb, 1.7 Ast
4-PF	Dana Dingle	15	1	4	4	4	9	0	0	1	6'7	10.1 Pts, 7.4 Reb, 1.5 Ast
5-C	Marcus Camby	19	1	7	2	5	8	1	4	1	6'11	20.5 Pts, 8.2 Reb, 1.8 Ast-NBA
1-PG	Charlton Clarke	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	6'3	1.4 Pts, 0.5 Reb, 0.7 Ast
2-SG	Tyrone Weeks	4	0	1	2	2	1	0	0	1	6'7	5.8 Pts, 5.2 Reb, 0.4 Ast
3-SF	Rigoberto Nunez	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	6'7	0.5 Pts, 1.0 Reb, 0.3 Ast
4-PF	Inus Norville	2	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	6'9	2.4 Pts, 2.1 Reb, 0.0 Ast
5-C	Ted Cottrell	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	6'9	0.9 Pts, 0.9 Reb, 0.0 Ast
	11 turnovers	80	7	22	13	19	33	9	5	14