Ramblers Get HUGE Buzzer Beater to Knock Off Miami

Donte Ingram hit a 3-pointer from the March Madness logo at half court just before the buzzer, lifting Loyola-Chicago over Miami 64-62 in a Thursday thriller. This win means the Ramblers can celebrate their first win in the NCAA Tournament in 33 years. Ingram’s long shot from well above the key came after Lonnie Walker IV missed a free throw with a chance to extend Miami’s one point lead with 9 seconds remaining. Just a side note here, free throws are the EASIEST fucking thing to do in a basketball game. There is no reason you should miss free throws down the stretch. Walker now has to own his mistake and face his school where he will surely be ripped a new one.

The 11th-seeded Ramblers matched the school record for wins from their 1963 national championship team in their first NCAA trip since losing to Patrick Ewing and Georgetown in the Sweet 16 in 1985. They advance to face third-seeded Tennessee on Saturday. Loyola was boosted by a pregame prayer from its team chaplain, 98-year-old Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt. She’s held that post for more than two decades and, sitting courtside in her wheelchair, got hugs from the Ramblers when it was over. That was probably the sweetest thing I have seen so far this year, I loved it. She even said  “I said we wanted to get that big W up there, and we did,” during a postgame interview.

The sixth-seeded Hurricanes led most of the second half in their third straight trip to the tournament, but couldn’t pull away in the final minutes and lost in the first round for the second straight year. Typing that just made me laugh out loud because Miami can go die in a hole. The buzzer sounded as Ingram’s shot went in, and the Ramblers celebrated wildly in front of the raucous fans wearing maroon-and-gold scarfs in the American Airlines Center sections across from their bench. By the way, Ramblers fans look like they belong in fucking Hogwarts and I am not sure how I feel about it.

But the dickhead officials decided to put 0.3 seconds back on the clock and made everyone have to hold their breath for a little bit longer. Loyola had to gather on the bench and postpone the celebration until after a desperation full-court pass bounced away harmlessly. The game-winner came after coach Porter Moser initially signaled for a timeout after Walker’s missed free throw, but then motioned his players to bring the ball up the court.

My fellow co-writers and I from Student Union were messaging back and forth while the game was going on. Take a look at the reactions and everything:

As you can tell, we were all Ramblers fans for the day and it was fantastic. I would put more but there were so many there is just too many to put here. Regardless, we were all happier than the day we first discovered internet porn. LET’S GOOOOOOOO RAMBLERS BABY!!!!!!