Amzil and the rest of the Flyers also got a rousing welcome early Monday morning when the team arrived home after midnight. Dozens of students awaited the team bus on campus.
“That’s just great,” Grant said Wednesday. “That’s just indicative that what we have here is something special.”
Amzil’s shot means it’s time to reevaluate the greatest baskets in Dayton history. Here’s a new ranking of the top-10 most memorable shots taken in the last five seconds of games:
1. Ed Young vs. DePaul
This can be still be called The Shot. It will be hard to top this basket. One, it’s a true buzzer-beater like Amzil’s, and there haven’t been many of those in UD history. Most times, officials review last-second shots these days and put time back on the clock. This still ranks first in part because it came against the third-ranked team.
Young made his bank shot to beat DePaul 72-71 on Feb. 18, 1984, at UD Arena. The play started when Larry Schellenberg rebounded a missed DePaul free throw. He brought the ball down the court and passed to Roosevelt Chapman, the all-time leading scorer in Dayton history then and now. Chapman surprised everyone by passing the ball to Young.
“I looked at the clock, and it said one, zero and it was the best feeling I ever had,” Young said.
2. Bobby Joe Hooper vs. Western Kentucky
On March 11, 1967, Hooper hit a 20-foot shot with four seconds left to beat Western Kentucky 69-67 in overtime in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The victory was the first of four in the tournament as Dayton advanced to the NCAA championship game.
Western Kentucky tied the score on the previous possession on a basket by Clem Haskins with 33 seconds left. During a timeout, Hooper told coach Don Donoher, “Give me the ball, Coach. I’ll put it in the hole.”
3. Vee Sanford vs. Ohio State
Sanford’s bank shot in Buffalo with 3.8 seconds left gave the Flyers a 60-59 victory over Ohio State in the first round of the NCAA tournament on March 20, 2014.
“My father had me work on that shot as much as I could,” Sanford said. “I probably started with it all the way back in fourth grade. We’d be out in the park with the wind blowing and he would push me and shove me as I’d come in for that shot. We did it over and over and over.”
4. Jalen Crutcher vs. Saint Louis
On Jan. 17, 2020, Crutcher hit a game-winning 3-pointer with 0.1 seconds left in overtime to give Dayton a 78-76 victory, the most memorable of 29 that season.
Saint Louis took a 76-75 lead on two free throws by Yuri Collins with 6 seconds left. Crutcher took the in-bounds pass, dribbled around the 3-point line to get space and launched the game winner. Saint Louis launched a long shot that wouldn’t have counted anyway as time expired.
5. Amzil vs. Kansas: The shot and the victory on Nov. 26 were remarkable for a number of reasons. It was Amzil’s first field-goal attempt of the game. Dayton had a 1.4 percent chance of winning this game, according to KenPom.com, when it trailed by 15 late in the first half. Since Young’s shot, Dayton had lost 13 straight games to top-five teams.
6. Dave Colbert vs. DePaul
One year after The Shot by Young, Dayton beat DePaul, this time ranked seventh, on Jan. 26, 1985, on another pure buzzer-beater, one that was so close DePaul didn’t believe it should have counted. The play started with a mess by Sedric Toney. Two Flyers, Grant and Schellenberg, both got their hands on the rebound but tipped it to Colbert, who had just enough time to score, according to the officials. Dayton won 65-64.
7. Al Berte vs. Cincinnati
On Feb. 11, 1971, Bertke’s 18-foot shot with one second left beat Cincinnati 70-69 at the Armory Fieldhouse. Dayton ended a 14-game losing streak in the series. Bertke missed his first five shots in the game but made the one that will be remembered.
“I had no business shooting the ball,” he said. “I know I had to be the least expected guy to take it. It was strictly a desperation shot, but maybe this was the best way.”
8. Brooks Hall vs. Villanova
On Dec. 22, 2002, Hall hit a bank shot at the buzzer to beat Villanova 80-78 at UD Arena. Like the shots by Young and Amzil, this was a true buzzer-beater.
“It was a tough shot,” said Hall’s teammate Keith Waleskowski, who started the play by running the fast break before throwing a pass caught by Mark Jones, who fed the ball to Hall, “because it was in tweener range. It wasn’t a layup. It wasn’t a short jumper. It was like a floater range, but he gathered it and had the perfect touch off the backboard. It goes through, and chaos ensues.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
9. Jordan Sibert vs. IPFW
Sibert’s last-second 3-pointer on Nov. 9, 2013, following a steal by Khari Price at mid-court set the stage for everything that followed in the Elite Eight season. Kyle Davis recorded the first assist of his career on the winning shot. Dayton beat IPFW 81-80 in the first game of the 2013-14 season.
“When Khari made that play, I thought to myself, ‘If I get a chance, I have to redeem myself for that free throw,’” Sibert said. “I know Kyle is a very unselfish player, just like Khari is. I knew if I could get to an open area I could make the shot.”
10. Devin Oliver vs. Ole Miss
Oliver’s bank shot 3-pointer with 0.3 seconds left gave the Flyers an 83-80 overtime victory on Jan. 4, 2014, in Oxford, Miss. The shot capped one of the great individual performances in UD history. Oliver had 26 points on 11-of-14 shooting with seven rebounds, five assists and no turnovers.
About the Author
