Miami Ohio University Athletics
Miami's Greatest Moments of the Decade: No. 3
12/29/2009 12:00:00 AM | General
Dec. 29, 2009
It was a shot that Doug Penno had practiced in his driveway hundreds of times. Three ... two ... one ... and the shot is good!
But on this day in 2007, Penno's dream shot happened not in his driveway but before a crowd of 10,000+ in Cleveland's Quicken Loans Arena.
Here's the way MACReportOnline.com reported the Mid-American Conference championship game between the RedHawks and Akron, Miami's No. 3 headline of the first decade of the 21st century.
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Mar. 10, 2007
RedHawks Go Dancing!
Penno's Prayer Gives Miami its First NCAA Tournament Appearance since 1999
By Dave Ruthenberg, MACReportOnline.com
CLEVELAND - Miami senior guard Doug Penno nailed a three point jumper off the backboard with 0:00.6 seconds remaining, propelling the RedHawks past favored Akron, 53-52 in the championship game of the 2007 Mid-American Conference basketball tournament at Cleveland's Quicken Loans Arena Saturday night.
The game-winning shot, with 0:00.6 remaining on the clock, also secured an NCAA Tournament bid for Miami.
"It was a one dribble pull-up jumper," Penno explained. "I put it up and said a prayer while it was in the air and God answered the prayer."
At the time it appeared that Penno's shot was the last play of the game as the buzzer sounded after his shot fell through the net. But the floor had to be cleared of celebrating Miami fans when game officials, alerted by Akron head coach Keith Dambrot, went to the replay at courtside to determine if the clock was started timely after Akron's Cedrick Middleton missed the front-end of a one and one with 6.6 seconds remaining.
The wild series of events started when Akron's Middleton was fouled by Penno following a missed lay-up by MAC Tournament MVP Tim Pollitz that would have tied the game. Middleton missed his free throw attempt and the rebound was tipped by Akron senior forward Romeo Travis before Miami sophomore guard Michael Bramos corralled the loose ball, passing it to Penno, setting up Penno's late-game heroics.
It was the first time Miami had taken the lead in the second half. After review, it was determined that the official timekeeper did not start the clock until Bramos possessed the rebound instead of starting the clock when the missed free throw was tipped. A delay of nine minutes ensued as officials reviewed the tape.
Miami head coach Charlie Coles thought that the actual shot was being reviewed.
"I thought they were reviewing whether the shot was good or not. I was unruly. I almost had three fights. They had some big guy standing there telling me I couldn't go past a certain line. When I realized they weren't going to overrule the shot, I was okay with their decision."
That decision that was made was to add six-tenths of a second on the clock but it was not enough to satisfy a clearly disappointed Keith Dambrot.
After the game, head game official Lamont Simpson explained, through a press pool reporter, the process that the officials used to determine that more time should be added.
"At the start of the missed free throw the ball was touched with 6.6 seconds left. The clock did not start. In order to get the correct time on the clock we ran the play live and used a stopwatch. We started (the stopwatch) on the touch and stopped it on the made basket as the ball came through the net. We timed it live. The stopwatch read six seconds. We did it at least five times." Simpson added that the officials realized the clock had not started correctly when "Keith (Dambrot) brought it to our attention." MAC head of officials, Sam Lickliter, backed up the decision stating, "They handled everything by rule and got it right."
"Initially, after we won, of course I felt great. But then I thought about that Akron team," stated Miami coach Charlie Coles. "How can (a team) have 26 victories and not be mentioned for an at-large bid? Something has to be seriously wrong with the system."
Miami (18-14), however, will not have to worry about being selected. Its upset win in the conference tournament final gives Miami the MAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
"We were very fortunate to win tonight. It's been so long," added Coles.
The RedHawks earned their first automatic bid to the big dance since 1997.
Akron held a five point lead, 48-43 with just over three and a half minutes remaining when Nathan Peavy sank a crucial three pointer and then Bramos rebounded a missed jumper by Romeo Travis to tie the score at 48-48. Jeremiah Wood briefly put Akron up 50-48 on a short jumper but Pollitz quickly answered for Miami with a game-tying layup to make it 50-50 with 1:22 remaining.
Following a Nathan Peavy foul, Akron's Travis than sank two free throws putting Akron up 52-50 with thirty seconds remaining. Miami's Pollitz then missed a layup, leading to Cedrick Middleton's rebound and foul by Penno sending Middleton to the line with a chance to put the game out of reach but Middleton missed the front-end of the one-and-one, setting the stage for Penno's dramatic championship-clinching shot for Miami.
"It's an experience none of us will forget," said Penno who reluctantly admitted he did not plan on his last shot going in off the glass. "I would like to say that's how I planned it, believe me, I would really like to say that, but no, that wasn't how I planned it."
But Penno had to wait those nine agonizing minutes when the officials were reviewing the clock situation.
"As I was being tackled (by his teammates) to the floor, I saw the refs were discussing something. I was looking around in disbelief," explained Penno.
"It was mind boggling," added Tim Pollitz when discussing the delay. "I was going crazy but could see something happening at the scorer's table."
But in the end, Penno's shot held up as Akron's inbound pass from the baseline sailed wide and time ran harmlessly out on Akron's chances.
"This is a dream come true," said Penno.
--www.MURedHawks.com--
