Stephen F. Austin Basketball: How Lumberjacks stunned Duke in Cameron Indoor

How the Lumberjacks pulled it off in the end

With just a few seconds left, the two squads were deadlocked at 81 apiece. A great defensive stand by Stephen F. Austin forced overtime. A spectacular 40 minutes of basketball was made much more exciting by an even better 5-minute period of extra time.

Once again, it came down to the final seconds. With under 45 seconds to play, Duke possessed the ball and the momentum as they were tied once again. This time it was 83-83. A missed Duke shot led to an offensive rebound. Duke was definitely going to get the final shot.

That is when it happened. A pass from Tre Jones to Matthew Hurt resulted in the ball rolling around on the floor. Junior forward, Gavin Kensmil of Stephen F. Austin corralled the ball and passed it ahead to Senior Nathan Bain.

With the final seconds ticking away, Bain stormed down the floor with only the clock to beat. In dramatic fashion and in a way that truly defined how the night should have ended, Bain laid the ball off the glass, and it trickled into the net right as the horn sounded. Stephen F. Austin had done the impossible.

The events that concluded the game was the perfect fairytale ending that any NCAA basketball fan that opposes Duke dreams of. The emotion poured out, and SFA’s bench erupted. It was truly a sight.

To add to the emotion and the meaning of the night, it only seems fitting that Nathan Bain was the man to slay Goliath. Bain and his family are from the Bahamas. The recent devastation brought upon by Hurricane Dorian caused them to lose everything. The Stephen F. Austin community has provided plenty of support, and after last night, the college basketball world is stepping to his aid as well.

It truly was a remarkable night.

Bain was the hero that gave the final punch, but it took a lot for the Lumberjacks to pick up this monumental win. Let’s see how they were able to do it.