Getting The Ball

GETTING THE BALL through the hoop is the goal of basketball. But it’s often easier said than done. In the 2001 Colonial Athletic Association tournament final, George Mason and the University of North Carolina–Wilmington staged one of the worst shooting performances of all time.

Neither team could find its shooting range. Things were so bad in the first half that nobody scored for more than six minutes. At halftime UNC–Wilmington led the Patriots 19–17.

The poor shooting continued in the second half. The Seahawks suffered through another scoreless stretch of eight minutes, falling behind 34–33 on Patriots Erik Herring’s three-pointer with 3:27 remaining. With the lead, George Mason’s defense stiffened and shut out UNC–Wilmington the rest of the way.

Patriot Tremaine Price connected on a free throw with 24.8 seconds left to play, giving the Seahawks one final chance. Brett Blizzard took the inbound pass and threw to Barron Thelmon with seven ticks left on the clock. His desperation shot bounced off the glass.

George Mason escaped with a 35–33 win, the second-lowest combined score in NCAA history since the shot clock came into play. The Patriots hit 14-of-48 field goal attempts for a 29 percent average, while the Seahawks matched 29 percent with 11-for-39 shooting.

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POINT Both George Mason and UNC-Wilmington played ugly basketball. Absolutely nothing fell right. Although both teams put forth a maximum effort, shots wouldn’t go in; passes went awry.

Of course, George Mason coach Jim Larranaga felt a bit gratified after the game. The victory advanced his team to the NCAA tournament. Plus, the Patriots’ entire season hadn’t been that bad. The team averaged 71 points a game.

We all experience good and bad times, whether in athletics or in everyday life. Sometimes everything goes right. Other times, nothing seems to go well. The Bible tells us that when times are good, we should be happy. But when they’re not, we should still praise God. He makes both good and bad for his purposes.

GOAL! Shoot some hoops. How many did you make? Did you hit two out of four? If so, your percentage was better than George Mason and UNC–Wilmington in their 2001 tournament game. Thank God for good days. Ask him to help you through the bad ones.