Erik Tengwall

... hit a game-winning shot at the buzzer?

Erik Tengwall, New London-Spicer

(The senior forward drained a three-point basket at the buzzer to beat Sebeka 72-70 on Dec. 12.)

Wow, what a game. We were down late in the game, but a late surge got us back up to within three with nine seconds to play. We get a steal and a quick layup then called a timeout, down by one point. Sebeka turns the ball over and we take our last timeout. We set up our last-second inbounds play where we send one man to the nearside corner and I was to make a backdoor cut to the basketball for an alley-oop. If this was not there Jayme Moten (our point guard) was to break to the ball and go to the hoop. The ball was slapped and I made my backdoor cut. Jayme quickly cut to the ball, got it, and started to drive to the lane. He slipped past his man and I faded to the corner to give him room to drive. I was open in the corner and Jayme passed me the ball, but it was partially tipped. I quickly grabbed it, knowing there was roughly one second remaining, and took the shot. At first release I thought it was short and we were going to get our first loss. The shot went in ... nothing but net and we won by two. When I hit it, the bench ran to me as I jumped into their arms. It is such a rush to hit a game-winner. You have mixed emotions of excitement and a shaky feeling like ‘Wow, did I really just hit that shot?’ No matter what happened earlier in that game you are now the reason why the team won, so everyone is congratulating you. It’s so much fan as a player and/or spectator. This is what makes basketball such a great sport. Any team can win on any given day. A little bit of luck doesn't hurt your chances either. What a great time you have in the locker rooms after as well, recalling what happened in the game.”