Brent missed. He overcooked his second free throw shot. The ball bounced high.
Bodies collided at the paint; all are trying their best to secure a good rebounding position. Dorian boxed out Aaron with a significant physical force and a proficient technique to prevent him from getting the offensive rebound.
The ball went their way and Dorian got it. Giving it to the team's point guard, he ran lightly to his intended spot on the block.
1:05 left 57-54 Mitty's leading by three.
Devon assessed the court and identified defenders' as well as his own teammates' positions on the floor.
He's analyzing the defense to find gaps where he could feed passes to get his teammates open looks.
Chris set him up with a ball screen when Devon neared the left wing. They did the pick and roll quickly to try and make the defense out of position which could get them an easy scoring opportunity.
Devon dribbled to the short corner and performed a Chris Paul fake pass with his left hand to the rolling Chris Baker.
Brent, now switched to defending Chris, reached his hand anticipating the pass. Lucas who was now guarding Devon also got fooled and extended his hand.
Devon continued with a high-speed drive going to the baseline. He accomplished bypassing his man and disrupting Mitty's team defense. Aaron provided help and prevented Devon in making a quick layup.
Brandon, supposed to be closely guarding Isaiah on the right wing, lost his focus and absent-mindedly glanced at Devon who is currently double-teamed at the baseline.
In that split second, Isaiah darted to the right corner and received a snappy pass.
He let it fly. Brandon tried to contest the shot, but the ball was already in the air.
Money! A clutch shot to tie the game.
"I get them buckets all day." Isaiah yelled and followed it up with Carmelo Anthony's Three to the Dome shot celebration.
Coach TK wanted to call his last and final timeout, but he held himself and just told every player on his team in the court to focus on the next play 'cause it's still an even game. Next, he whispered to Brent then finished it by pointing at his watch.
Brent understood it immediately.
Mitty 57 - 57 Summit | 52 seconds left
Dribbling at the top, Brent showed a sign with his index finger by doing a circular motion with it. His teammates nod at him.
The Monarchs rotated the ball a little bit. Every player touched it, a second or two. The opposing team understood that Mitty was milking the clock. When the time was down to 45 seconds, Aaron attacked fast.
He penetrated the paint easily with quick and aggressive dribbles. Summit players surrounded him when he got to the paint.
Lucas notices from the right wing that an open lane to the basket is brought about from Aaron's baseline drive from the left.
He dashes to the high post and received Aaron's pass in stride. The defenders' got caught off guard by his "45 cut" and they reacted too late. Lucas laid it up swiftly.
"Great cut, bro." Aaron said cheerfully.
"Nice assist, man." Lucas put his hand up and they celebrated with a high-five.
Monarchs are back on the lead 59-57.
Coach Steve Hickey used his last timeout.
Time remaining in the game is 38 seconds.
"Good cut, Lucas." The coach said to him.
"Thanks, coach." He replied with a smile.
"Now, here's what we'll do. We'll go for the full court press to urge them to make their move earlier rather than run out the clock." Coach TK started his instructions. "Since there's a 35-second shot clock and time left in this game is only 38 seconds, we'll pressure them in getting their shot up so that we will have at least 10 seconds to make ours, if ever they'll score a basket."
"Got it, coach." The players replied.
The game continued. Dorian held the ball, ready to pass it to their point guard. The referee started counting for the unusually called but still possible 5-second violation.
Dorian Cason threw an overhead pass casually, and that was when things went wrong. Brent timed it and jumped rapidly, intercepting the ball mid-air as it neared Devon. Lucas was the first to react and sprinted at full speed for the fast break.
Brent sent Lucas an outlet pass and ran together with Aaron, Jason and Brandon. Chris and Isaiah chased Lucas hurriedly.
Isaiah got to him first at the right elbow. Chris followed making it a 1 on 2 situation. Lucas dribbled back to the 3-point line as the realization dawned on him: they're the ones leading and the clock is still ticking.
Coach Steve is shouting at the sidelines.
"Foul! Foul him." He yelled at both players.
Chris' face darkened when the thought struck him. His opponent was running out the clock. He reacted quickly and tried to slap the ball handler's dribbling hand.
But Lucas was quicker.
He passed the ball to Aaron who only just crossed the half court line at the left side. Dorian chased Aaron to foul him. Aaron dribbled to the left wing then dished it to Brandon who was near the center circle.
The clock kept ticking. 31, 30, 29, 28, 27.
Devon fouled him to stop the game clock.
The Monarchs' bench stood up and celebrated the basketball sequence.
Coach TK settled them down and told his players that the game is not over yet.
Lucas, along with Aaron, Jason and Brent went closer to Brandon and talked to him. Telling their teammate to just relax and to not feel too much pressure since whether he makes or misses it, they're still leading.
"Don't worry guys. I'll make both shots." Brandon assured his teammates.
"I like the confidence, man." Lucas said.
"You got this, bro." Brent told him.
"Yeah, I can do it." Brandon replied.
Almost. Brandon White made the first one but missed the second free throw shot.
It's still a single possession game. 60-57
Only 25 seconds is left in the 4th quarter.
Chris secured the rebound and quickly passed it to Devon. The point guard gave the ball to Isaiah on the right wing.
Isaiah, being defended by Lucas this time, made a crossover right to left. Lucas also moved along with the ball but got floored when the ball handler broke his ankle by shuffling to the opposite direction.
Lucas slowly dropped to the floor like he's Wesley Johnson who got humiliated by a nasty JamesHarden dribbling maneuver.
Isaiah's "against the grain crossover" did Lucas dirty. He then stared at him for a second before shooting a three-pointer.
Isaiah turned around after letting it fly and spread both his hands acting the same as when Washington Wizards' Gilbert Arenas scored a buzzer beater game winner.
But unfortunately for him, it bounced out, making it similar to Nick Young's missed 3 when he was on the Los Angeles Lakers.
Lucas got up and eyed the closest player. Isaiah won't even try to look back at him.
'This is probably the most embarrassing experience I had in a basketball game.' Lucas' face was so red as he thought of what just happened in that sequence.
A wombo combo memeable viral moment.
Meanwhile, Aaron secured the rebound. Dorian Cason immediately fouled him.
Coach TK calmly called his final timeout.