Late Garland Layup Boots Rebels From The Tourney

“Timeout! Call a timeout!” yelled every Ole Miss fan affixed to Sunday night’s loss to La Salle. With 2.5 seconds left, Tyrone Garland of La Salle hit an off-balance layup over Reginald Buckner to put the Pioneers up two. In order to have his best defensive lineup on the floor, head coach Andy Kennedy pulled Marshall Henderson prior to the possession. With one quick possession left and the team down two, the conventional wisdom was to call a timeout to get Henderson into the game in an attempt to win it in regulation. Instead no timeout was called, Jarvis Summers threw a heave over the backboard and La Salle prevailed 76-74.

Mar 24, 2013; Kansas City, MO, USA; La Salle Explorers guard Ramon Galloway (55) drives in for a basket against Mississippi Rebles forward Terry Brutus (25) in the second half during the third round of the NCAA basketball tournament at the Sprint Center. La Salle defeated Mississippi 76-74. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports

Prior to the shot by Garland that can be summed up as nothing short of miraculous, the Pioneers ran the clock down from 32 seconds with no opposition from the Rebel defense. On the play before, Henderon drove to the lane and was slapped on the forearm, forcing a limp shot that fell to the floor for a shot clock violation. The call was deemed a makeup call by the announcers for a questionable out-of-bounds call against La Salle 11 seconds prior.

Another tale of the game that is being overlooked due to the late-game mess that was the final minute is the vast shooting disparity between the two teams. After swarming Wisconsin and holding the badgers to 25 percent from the field in the first game, Ole Miss surrendered a lot of space to the La Salle shooters which allowed them to 9-23 from three-point range and close to 50 percent from the field. The Pioneers went to the free throw line 19 times, connecting on 13 of them for a 72.2 percentage. Ole Miss on-the-other-hand shot 4-19 from three and was an abysmal 10-21 from the line. Buckner was 1-5 and Henderson, who averages close to 6 free throws made per game, shot just once from the charity stripe.

Ramon Galloway continued his tear this season with 24 points, including 6-10 from deep. Tyreek Duren finished with 19 points with 6 of the Pioneers’ 13 free throws. Garland had 17 points off the bench, none bigger than his off-balance layup to win the game. Ole Miss held Jerrell Wright in relative check all game, holding the forward to 8 points and 4 rebounds.

Henderson, who hinted that this may be his last game in a Rebel uniform, contributed 21 points on 8-21 shooting with his last shot being one that could have kept the Rebels dancing had he gotten the call. Three Ole Miss players who have played their last game for certain are seniors Murphy Holloway, Nick Williams and Buckner. The three seniors were near to the hearts of Rebel fans for a variety of reasons. Holloway for transferring back to Ole Miss due to his longing for Oxford, Buckner for his ferocious shot blocking and dunking and Williams for providing for the Rebels in any capacity he was asked. Holloway finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds in a typical double-double fashion Rebel fans have grown accustomed to. Buckner had 7 points, 6 rebounds and 2 blocks in limited minutes due to foul trouble. Williams 10 points on 5-9 shooting with no turnovers to his name.

Two schools with completely different teams and schools were both considered to be on magical runs. La Salle will continue theirs on Thursday night against 9 La Salle with a trip to the Elite Eight at stake. Ole Miss has returned home to Oxford with a rebuilding season on the horizon, but with heads held high because there is still an SEC Championship banner to be hung come October.