We have our first Shining Moment of March Madness.
Lehigh’s Nasir Whitlock’s hit a game-winning 3-pointer from beyond half court with the clock expiring to advance the No. 2 seed past No. 10 Holy Cross, 69-66, in the Patriot League quarterfinals Thursday.
Whitlock received the inbounds pass with two seconds left in a 66-66 game and dribbled once before firing up the roughly 50-foot shot that he drilled to avoid a potential massive upset.
The junior ran toward the fans, with the game being played at Lehigh, while his teammates flocked after him following the miraculous buzzer-beater.
Lehigh will now face No. 3 Colgate in the semifinals Sunday.
“We called the play and I just looked at (Joshua Ingram), one of my best friends, and I said, ‘Give it to me.’ … I just caught it and took one or two dribbles and let it go,” Whitlock told the @goforitradio YouTube channel. “I thought it was coming off to the right, kind of in my follow-through, but the split-second before it went in, I was like, ‘Oh, that may be going in.’ It was on line and then went in. Got to thank God for that.”
He later added: “This is March.”
Thursday’s game nearly turned into a heartbreaking loss for Lehigh (16-16) before the last-minute heroics allowed the Mountain Hawks to escape with a win.
Holy Cross (11-22) led by six points with 2:43 remaining and held a two-point edge with 21 seconds remaining before Whitlock tied the game with 11 seconds left via a layup.
In what proved to be the second-biggest moment of the game, Lehigh then forced a turnover with two seconds remaining to secure one final possession.
“We got the stop which was the biggest play of the game, that stop with two seconds left,” Whitlock told the YouTube channel.
Whitlock, who played 38 minutes, caught the inbounds pass on the left side of the court while the nearest Holy Cross defender gave him enough space to hoist the shot.
The 3-pointer gave him a game-high 29 points, and he added two assists and two rebounds.
“Defense wins, that’s all there is to it,” Lehigh head coach Brett Reed said, per the team website. “Without that stop at the end of the game, we don’t have an opportunity for that miracle play.”
Lehigh will now try to beat Colgate for a third time this season after surviving a pair of one-point encounters during the regular season.
The Mountain Hawks won 78-77 at Colgae on Jan. 10 and then triumphed in overtime, 77-76, in a home clash on Jan. 31.
“We got to play better,” Whitlock told @goforitradio. “We didn’t play well (Thursday), so we gotta play better if we want to beat Colgate.”