The Big East conference could make an argument for sending as many as 11 teams to the NCAA tournament, which starts next week. Rutgers (5-13 in conference, 15-17 overall) was not one of those, and desperately needed to make a run through the arguably the toughest conference tournament in the country to find a spot in the big dance. Last night, in the Big East tournament’s quarterfinal round, Rutgers ran into St. Johns–and an incompetent officiating crew.
Rutgers would lose, but not before having their last gasp stolen out from under them. Watch after the jump as St. Johns player Justin Brownlee travels AND steps out of bounds AND throws the ball in the stands with more a second remaining. Whether St. Johns was handed a break by the timekeeper because they play their home games at Madison Square Garden–the tournament site–or one of the referees really had to pee is up for debate, but it’s ugly. No one in the St. Johns basketball program should ever ridicule the WWE ever again.
Big ups to Mocksession for the great video capture. Those guys are doing the Lord’s work. Img via.
Update: Looks like those guys won’t be hosing any other teams for the rest of the season.
