After a rough first half and a slow start to the second, the Saint Mary's Gaels pulled off a monster 14-2 run in the closing minutes of their second round showdown with the Purdue Boilermakers. Trailing by two with 45 seconds left, SMC hit a 3-pointer from the corner to take the one point advantage. The crowd erupted and Purdue called a timeout, undoubtably stunned they blew a double-digit lead.
After forcing a travel, it looked like Saint Mary's was about to pull off the comeback. On an inbounds play, though, everything changed; because it was a traveling violation, the in-bounder could not move while passing the ball in. He moved, and the referee gave the ball back to Purdue.
The Boilermakers made two free throws to take the lead, and Jorden Page came down a missed a three. After two more free throws from Robbie Hummel, the Gaels would need a 3 to tie the game. Matthew Dellavedova brought the ball off and dished it to Rob Jones with just seconds left, but he missed it as the buzzer sounded.
Purdue had won 72-69 and will face the winner of Kansas-Detroit on Sunday.
As for the Gaels, it was a great season and the team should be very strong next year. They played their hearts out and that's all fans can ask for.