The first college hoops game I ever attended was ND at Syracuse. February 17, 1990. It was a cold snowy day, but the Dome was packed. This was back in the old independent days, when it felt like ND played a ranked team every week.
SU had Derrick Coleman and Billy Owens, we had LaPhanso. ND had a sizable lead in the second half, but SU made a run and took the lead with under a minute. Owens gave them a 2 point lead with 4 seconds left and the place went nuts. Digger worked the refs to get 3 seconds on the clock for the final play.
Keith Robinson inbounded to LaPhanso near mid court, who seamlessly fired a pass to Elmer Bennet at the top of the key. He lifted a shot at the buzzer that kissed the net, and I went insane. Elmer finished with a game high 18.
That was a good day.
in basketball. He was lightning fast, could jump to the moon (I will never forget a dunk he made where he dribbled 3/4 length of gym and flew up from just inside the foul line and dunked with ease as a 6' tall player.) He shot like a smooth player rather than the fast twitch player he was. And the memory of that finish will last forever.