The scoreboard read Charleston Southern 86, Towson 83. And the clock read 00:00.
But as Yogi Berra has often reminded us, "it ain't over till it's over.
After the three officials huddled for close to 10 minutes and conferred with Charleston coach Gary Edwards and Towson State's Terry Truax, it was decided to put one second back on the clock.
As Truax explained, "We don't have one of those clocks that breaks down the final second, and [lead official] Donnes Grey decided that it couldn't have been a full second after Jason Crump rebounded a missed free throw."
But the extra chance did not change the final result. Crump threw a half-court pass that DeRon Robinson had trouble handling as the buzzer sounded.
Edwards, who saw his Buccaneers (13-9, 9-3) stretch their Big South winning streak to six straight and complete an extended weekend sweep of UMBC and Towson State on the road, claimed he was not overly concerned about the "added" second.
"They needed a desperation three-pointer, and we ought to be able to defend against it," said Edwards, who notched his 100th victory at Charleston Southern.
Clearly, the Buccaneers deserved to win this one, dominating the boards by a 46-28 margin and using a patient offense to score on high-percentage shots.
"In the first half," noted Truax, they had as many offensive rebounds (14) as we had total rebounds. "They were a lot more motivated than us."
The Tigers lost any chance to remain competitive on the boards when they lost their rebounding leader, junior forward Stevie Thomas, to an eye injury in the opening minute of the second half.
Thomas was experiencing blurred vision and some swelling inside the eyeball. He was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital for observation.
Towson State (10-11, 4-8) needed a late barrage of three-pointers by sophomore DeRon Robinson and Michael Keyes to overcome a 10-point deficit and climb into an 83-83 tie on Robinson's two free throws with 1:12 left.
Junior forward T.L. Latson (22 points, nine rebounds) quickly untied it with 62 seconds remaining by beating Crump on a baseline drive.
Towson scoring leader Ralph Blalock (21 points) then worked his way underneath the basket but found himself surrounded by a crowd of defenders. His shot appeared to be partially deflected and no whistle blew.
Reserve Buccaneers guard Errol McPherson made one of two free throws with 11 seconds left, and Towson fumbled the rebound out of bounds. When Jeff Daniels missed both of his free throws in the final second, it gave the Tigers another life -- to no avail.
For Edwards, it also showed that his team could win a close game without its star player, Erick Burks (21 points, seven assists, six rebounds), on the floor at the end.
Burks, a silky-smooth left-handed jump shooter, fouled out with 3:57 left and his team leading 80-78. But sophomore guard Brett Larrick (20 points) and Latson provided clutch baskets in Burks' absence.
Blalock's 21 points left him three shy of the 1,000 mark for his TC college career. He will have a chance to reach that goal against UMBC at home Thursday night.
CHARLESTON SOUTHERN -- Daniels 6-8 1-4 13, Latson 8-13 6-8 22, Kartchner 1-3 1-2 3, Larrick 7-12 0-0 20, Burks 9-19 2-4 21, McPherson 0-1 1-2 1, Nelson 1-2 0-0 3, Gordon 1-8 1-2 3. Totals 33-66 12-22 86.
TOWSON STATE -- Schneider 2-3 0-0 5, Thomas 3-4 0-0 6, Blalock 10-20 0-1 21, Crump 3-7 1-2 7, Keyes 3-4 2-2 10, Biggs 4-4 2-3 11, Robinson 4-8 6-8 17, Moody 0-2 0-0 0, Durrant 2-5 0-0 4, Lexer 1-5 0-0 2. Totals 32-62 11-16 83.
Halftime--Tied at 41. 3-point goals--CS 8-15 (Larrick 6-11, Burks 1-1, Nelson 1-2, Latson 0-1); TS 8-18 (Robinson 3-5, Keyes 2-2, Biggs 1-1, Schneider 1-2, Blalock 1-4, Lexer 0-2, Moody 0-2). Rebounds--CS 46 (Latson 9, Kartchner 9); TS 28 (Crump 8). Assists--CS 19 (Burks 7); TS 19 (Crump 5). Total fouls--CS 18; TS 18. Fouled out--Burks. Technicals--none. A--751.