One of the reasons everyone loves college basketball in March is that anything can happen. A team that won eight games in the regular season can come three points from making the tournament (shoutout Paladins). David can beat Goliath. Unlikely heroes pop up everywhere.
Wednesday saw another one of those moments as FIU senior Dennis Marvin heaved a half-court shot at the buzzer in a tie game against UTSA. It was dead on, and the Golden Panthers stole one, 57-54, to move onto the next round of the C-USA tournament. Marvin, Florida International’s leading scorer at 17.1 points per game, finished with 15 points and was 3-of-5 from beyond the arc on the day.
The impressive shot negated a great game by the Roadrunners’ Ryan Bowie (25 points on 9-of-13 shooting), as well as some prior heroics by Keon Lewis, who hit a three-pointer to tie the game before Marvin buried the game winner.
It’s still too early to say whether or not this buzzer beater by FIU will lead to a memorable run through the conference tourney, but at the very least, the Golden Panthers have another March memory. For a team that hasn’t made the NCAA tournament since 1995, a little magic goes a long way.