The Centennial Colts had the Seneca Sting on the ropes at the Athletic and Wellness Centre. After Jason Dennis tied the game up at 70 with two clutch free throws, the top ranked team in the OCAA were in the middle of a terrible offensive possession with the shot clock winding down.
Sting star Khalil Miller received the ball off of a dribble handoff from Yusuf Ali and had Dennis draped all over him. With the shot clock about to expire, Miller threw up a line drive shot from way outside with 14.7 seconds left.
The result? Nothing but net, leaving the crowd and the Colts stunned.
Miller's three pointer proved to be the game winner as Seneca came out on top on the road in a chippy affair over Centennial, 73-70, at the Athletic and Wellness Centre. The win was the Sting's 11th straight victory as they improved to 11-1. Centennial, meanwhile, falls to 9-5.
Despite Miller's heroics and a game high 12 rebounds, the Sting centre was limited to just seven points on seven shots, including being held scoreless for the first half, while Trevor Hutton was held to just one point. Ali led Seneca with 20 points, but was held scoreless in the fourth quarter.
Nabiul Ibrahim had 12 points off the bench for the Sting while Isse Ibrahim had 11.
For Centennial, four players scored in double figures, led by Kendell Wilson, who had 17 points on five made triples. Bailey Burton finished with a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, Jahshua McFarlane filled up the stat sheet with 12 points, eight rebounds and a game high eight assists while Alastair Cole dropped 10.
It was Cole and Dennis, who took the task of guarding last season's Rookie of the Year, with their physicality leaving Miller visibly frustrated.
The last time the two teams played against each other, rebounding was a major issue with Seneca out rebounding Centennial, 58-42. Today flipped the script as it was the Colts who beat the Sting, 51-45, on the glass.
The start of the game did not feel like a grind-it-out battle as both teams started off at a breakneck pace. Centennial used an early 9-0 run to take a 17-9 lead, capped off by a triple from Burton. But Seneca chipped away at the lead, eventually scoring six straight to take a 23-20 lead late in the quarter.
Seneca eventually took a 23-21 lead after one. Ali had eight, including two deep triples. Wilson had six in the quarter for the Colts.
In the second quarter, both teams went back and forth