Daily Home News - January 11, 2004
In choosing ten memorable Rutgers buzzer beaters, no consideration was given to where the game was played. It's interesting that of the six thus far, only one was at home, probably the last buzzer beater at the old College Avenue Gym. With the exception of Damon Santiago's shot against Pittsburgh, the remainder took place on neutral courts, but this week the scene shifts to the RAC. In January of 2004, Rutgers had begun its Big East conference season with a frustrating loss. Just a few days earlier the Scarlet Knights had taken #1 Connecticut right down to the wire before falling one point short. The defeat, which no one considered a moral victory, left Rutgers at 0-2 in conference (7-4 overall) and badly in need of a conference win. At least the next game was at home, but the opponent was another nationally ranked team, Providence coming off a frustrating loss of their own. Playing Texas in a nationally televised game, the Friars suffered the worst possible kind of buzzer beating loss where it seemed to many the shot was taken after the buzzer sounded.
Daily Home News - January 11, 2004
The first ten minutes of the game were relatively even until Providence went ahead with 9:23 remaining in the first half. It was a lead the Friars would hold for the next 30:36 of playing time. At the half, Providence was ahead 36-26, but Rutgers used a 10-4 spurt at the to get back into the game. From that point on the teams traded baskets which wasn't good enough for Rutgers. Still down by five points with just over ten seconds left, Herve Lamizana put up a prayer which was answered when the ball went in off the glass. After the game Lamizana himself admitted "that shot was luck," especially since he "didn't even look" and didn't "know how [it] went in." Still down two, however, Rutgers had no alternative but to foul, putting a Friar on the line with two shots. Making both would put the game out of reach, but providence was not looking kindly on its namesake this night. Both shots missed giving the Knights one last chance.
Daily Home News - January 11, 2004
Rutgers brought the ball across midcourt with just 5.7 seconds left and Coach Gary Waters took a timeout. Waters said later, that he wanted no part of overtime so he designed a three point attempt. Freshman Quincy Douby was to drive towards the basket and look for Lamizana. If Herve wasn't open, Douby was to look for another Rutgers three point shooter in the corner. Lamizana was open, however, probably because as Keith Sargeant put it in the Daily Home News "no one felt he could hit from near the bench." Standing about 24 feet from the basket, Herve took the ball three feet behind the three point line and with "no time to think I just set it up and shot." Unlike the earlier three point basket, this was a "pure shot" that hit nothing but net with .4 seconds on the clock. Then to top off his evening, Lamizana blocked Providence's inbound pass and Rutgers had an improbable 65-64 win. His game winning shot gave Herve 21 points for the game, complemented by eight rebounds and four blocks.
Record - January 11, 2004
While it was too early in the season to call the dramatic win a turning point, it was important to get that first conference win. Certainly, Rutgers morale after the game was better than the Friars who suffered their second consecutive heart breaking buzzer beating loss. Rutgers finished the regular season at 16-12 with a 7-9 conference record. A frustrating one point loss to Virginia Tech eliminated the Knights from the conference tournament, but the team earned an NIT bid. Consecutive victories over Temple, West Virginia, Villanova and Iowa State put Rutgers in the NIT championship game against Michigan. Sadly the Scarlet Knights came up a little short against the Wolverines. It was still a successful season, however, with some memorable moments, especially that January 10th buzzer beater. It was as Herve put it, "so sweet." No one, except, of course, Providence could disagree with that sentiment.
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