Southern Conference rivals, the East Tennessee State Buccaneers and Mercer Bears played a great game on Thursday. Mercer game away with a 71-67 win in overtime. One person, though, was less than pleased with how the game ended, despite cheering for Mercer.
With the Bears leading 69-67 in the final seconds, Mercer’s Shawn Walker Jr. (pictured above in a 2021 NCAA Tournament game) was fouled. He went to the line and sunk both free throws to ice the game. It seemed as though anybody who bet Mercer at -4.5, though, would come up just short. A potential reprieve came, though, when Walker came away with the steal and headed to the hoop, seemingly to throw down an emphatic dunk. It seemed like those betting on the Bears had their miracle cover.
But when Walker left his feet, he also lost control of the ball. It sailed out of his grasp as time expired. Instagram user brian_ferullo4 recorded the final seconds with the captions, “Mercer -4.5” and “What is life?”
BR_betting shared Ferullo’s post, saying “My soul would have left my body with that ball after losing Mercer -4.5 like this 
Plenty of people felt his pain.
If a Bad Beat Hall of Fame is ever built, this one is a lock to make it and is a strong candidate to go in on the first ballot.
[br_betting on Twitter, Brian_Freullo4 on Instragram]