Four days after allowing a go-ahead 3-pointer with 0.4 seconds remaining, then*beating St. Bonaventure thanks to a premature court storm, VCU was again stunned by a buzzer-beater — again with 0.4 seconds remaining — Wednesday night at George Washington.
And again, somehow, the Rams pulled out a victory.
George Washington’s Yuta Watanabe hit a 3*from the corner as the clocked raced down to 0.0 to put the Colonials up by one:
Yuta Watanabe beats VCU at the buzzer. pic.twitter.com/To8O69kcGg
— Rob Dauster (@RobDauster) February 9, 2017
Unlike on Saturday in the VCU-St. Bonaventure game, this time, the clock did actually hit zeros. But after officials reviewed the play, they ruled that the ball had gone through the net with 0.4 seconds remaining. VCU, therefore, had one last chance, even if it was an ever so slim chance.
During the review, VCU coach Will Wade drew up a simple play that is so often run, and almost*never works. This time, it worked — with a little help from the referees:
This foul sent @VCU_Hoops to the line with 0.4 to go, where JeQuan Lewis connected on both for the win. https://t.co/J7DvFOypmo
— CBS Sports Network (@CBSSportsNet) February 9, 2017
George Washington players were immediately in disbelief. The one thing they couldn’t do, they did. The GW player guarding the inbounder*clumsily and mindlessly ran over JeQuan Lewis,*who had essentially set up to take a charge right under the basket. The bait was taken, and a ref’s whistle sounded.
However, it perhaps shouldn’t have. Lewis’ left foot was out of bounds when the contact was made, which maybe should have precluded a foul from being called:

The official*NCAA men’s basketball rulebook is a bit unclear. In Section 17, Article 1, on establishing legal guarding position, the rulebook reads:
Guarding is the act of legally placing the body in the path of an offensive opponent. The guarding position shall be initially established and then maintained inbounds on the playing court.
However, this foul, although seemingly a charge, was committed by a defensive player. In Section 34 of the rulebook, on screens, there is no stipulation about the screening*player being inbounds.

Lewis went to the line and knocked down both free throws to clinch another improbable victory.
Incredible. @VCU_Hoops was down by one with 0.4 to go, gets the foul call, and knocks down free throws to win it. https://t.co/qVF8VhNAut
— CBS Sports Network (@CBSSportsNet) February 9, 2017
That’s two straight wins for VCU in games the Rams trailed with 0.0 seconds on the clock. Quite the miraculous run.

*