By Gina Morrone ’14

Perhaps it’s the collective excitement surrounding Lafayette’s basketball team, or maybe it’s this high school video circulating the web, but I can’t get enough of watching buzzer beater shots.  Imagine giving all you’ve got out on the court, with fractions of seconds ticking away at the clock, down by one.  A win is a win and a loss is a loss, I get that, but a close win is always so much more sweet, and a close loss all the more bitter.  Altering your team’s outcome on the matter comes down to time management and a dependable shot.

At Lafayette, we’ve got Tony Johnson, whose back-to-back game winners versus Bucknell and Holy Cross last month sparked Lafayette’s energy.  I, among thousands of other fans, watched the tapes countless times.  The wins were sweeter for us, and I can bet Bucknell and Holy Cross went back to their locker rooms in shame.

Then this week, the internet exploded with a high school championship buzzer beater, between Mt. Vernon and New Rochelle.  If you haven’t seen it yet, check it out right now.  These kids live and breathe high school basketball, and one high school senior’s 55 foot (that’s well past half court!) shot, now known as THE shot, brought nothing but joy to his team, his school, and basketball fans everywhere.

These recent buzzer beaters reminded me of my personal favorite basketball drama.  In the 1972 Olympics, the Americans were down to the Soviets 48-49 with 3 seconds left.  Doug Collins, former Sixers player and current Sixerscoach, sunk 2 free throws to take the lead, when the buzzer went off.  Wait, what? Yes, a game-winning free throw.   Or not.  After not one, but two ‘re-dos’ of the final seconds of the game, the Soviets were able to inbound the ball and make a layup, re-taking the lead.  Up until 1972, the American basketball players had never received a silver medal, and, because of the disputes around that game, they refused to accept the silver medals, and now in 2012, have yet to take home a single silver medal.

The buzzer beaters of today are exciting, but take some time and look into buzzer beaters and drama from way back when, because they’re pretty exciting too!