Michigan State Basketball Survives FGCU After Clock Error

The #13 Michigan State Spartans benefitted from a clock error in the final seconds as they held off the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles on Sunday, 78-77.

The ghost of Spartan Bob appeared at the Breslin Center on Sunday night, as the #13 Michigan State Spartans (2-2) were the beneficiaries of a clock error in the final seconds that might have been the difference as they survived an upset attempt by the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles (1-3), 78-77.

Michigan State took the early lead and never trailed in the first half, although Florida Gulf Coast kept it close and trailed only 38-36 at halftime, out-rebounding the Spartans 20-18 in the first 20 minutes as senior Eron Harris led the Spartans with 17 first-half points.

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The Eagles grabbed their first lead of the game with 18:31 left in the second on a basket by Antravious Simmons, who would earn a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds. The Spartans took the lead right back and held onto it for the majority of the second half, but the Eagles hung around and a Demetrius Morant bucket put them ahead 64-63 with 5:03 left in the game. Florida Gulf Coast would extend the lead to four before Michigan State went on a 9-3 run to take a 73-71 lead into the final minute of play.

Two made free throws by Miles Bridges put the Spartans ahead by three, 78-75, with 16 seconds left. The Eagles raced down the court and Christian Terrell scored a layup to cut the lead to one with eight seconds left. Eagles’ guard Brandon Goodwin fouled Harris on the next play, his fifth, which sat him down for the final three seconds.

Harris missed both ensuing free throws, giving the Eagles the ball with 2.4 seconds remaining and a chance to go the length of the floor for a game-winning basket.

After their first attempt at an inbound was knocked out of bounds by Bridges, leaving them with 1.6 seconds on the clock to try again. The Eagles inbounded the ball and the clock started immediately, hitting zero before Simmons could release his shot, which missed.

Video from ESPN

Florida Gulf Coast head coach Joe Dooley immediately protested as the clock should not have started until the ball was touched in bounds. The officials conferred before telling Dooley that they could only review the play if Simmons had made the shot, thus rendering the game over.

Some were quick to criticize the officials for their decision to not replay the final 1.6 seconds, as there had been an egregious clock error that would have warranted such a replay. Seth Greenburg of ESPN said the last 1.6 seconds should have been replayed.

Video from ESPN

The official for the game, Bo Boroski, released a statement after the game:

“A timing error occurred with 1.6 seconds remaining on the game clock (it read). Since a timing error occurred, we are able to utilize the replay monitor. A stopwatch was used to determine if any time should remain on the game clock. Using a stopwatch, it was determined the ball was caught and released in 1.3 seconds, meaning if the shot would have gone in, it would have counted. After the miss there was no time remaining in the game, therefore ending the game. By rule the possession can not be replayed. Period.”

Dooley disagreed with this logic, saying that Simmons had shot the ball when he did because he heard the horn go off.

When Boroski was asked by Matt Charboneau of The Detroit News for clarification regarding his statement, Boroski did not comment on who started the clock, saying that both the officials and the timer on the sidelines had the ability to start it, although Greenburg says the officials are the ones in charge of the clock in the final two minutes. According to ESPN’s Andy Katz, Dooley said after the game that both the officials and the table claimed that they had not started the clock.