CBB world reacts to season’s wildest finish

It’s hard to imagine that the college basketball season will have a crazier ending than what happened in Saturday night’s game between Yale and Vermont.

The Bulldogs had a 63-60 lead with 3.8 seconds remaining. Bez Mbeng then drained a pair of free throws giving Yale a seemingly insurmountable 65-60 lead. Vermont’s Aaron Deloney caught the ensuing inbounds pass at midcourt. Not wanting to be whistled for a foul, the Bulldogs offered no real defense against Deloney, who quickly moved down the court and laid the ball in, trimming the deficit to 65-62. Then things went haywire.

With 0.6 seconds remaining, Yale only needed to get the ball in bounds and the game would effectively be over. That never happened. As Yale was trying to get the ball in, August Mahoney was whistled for a foul when a Vermont player fell to the floor. That not only gave the Catamounts possession of the ball, but gave them an inbounds pass from underneath the Yale basket.

Deloney found TJ Long, who quickly got a three-point attempt off. Long’s three was not only good, but he was fouled by Mahoney. With that, Long went to the free-throw line with a chance to put Vermont ahead. His free throw was good. And with that, the Catamounts pulled an inexplicable comeback.

Somehow, Vermont went from down five points and inbounding the ball in the backcourt with 3.8 seconds remaining to winning in regulation.

The unreal finish in Vermont caught the attention of college hoops lovers.

No one is ever allowed to complain about Purdue losing close games ever again. @SickosCBB https://t.co/endzTRILlU

— Travis Miller (@JustTMill) December 3, 2023

[Lukas Harkins, Photo Credit: ESPN+]