HERRINGTON'S FATEFUL SHOT WON THE GAME, BUT BRONCOS EARNED THE VICTORY

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. -- The Fayetteville State Broncos run a 3-point shooting contest as one of their drills. No matter your position, you take 3s.

But John Herrington always steps inside the arc. His teammates say he cheats, taking those comfortable 16-footers. His coaches, though, admire Herrington for his diligence.

"He knows his skill level and where his strengths are," says Fayetteville State head coach Alphonza Kee. "And John understands to work on the things that can help us win. That's his singular focus."

Herrington

In the first 35 games of his career at Fayetteville State, Herrington, a chiseled 6-foot-7 center, had never attempted a 3-point shot. And he wasn't about to take one anytime soon. Not even in practice. And certainly not in a game.

Or so he thought.

With 2 seconds remaining and the Broncos down by two points against Elizabeth City State on Monday night, there wasn't time to think the matter through. While Herrington's screen knocked the Vikings' Quintin Spady into Fort Bragg, Tim Plummer, whom the play was designed to go through, still couldn't get open.

That left Andre Best to inbound the ball to the only Broncos player who was open. John Herrington.

"I swear to God, I had a dream recently that I made a shot at the buzzer to win a game," Herrington said on Monday night, the euphoria of the moment moving the soft-spoken big man to elaborate in a manner he...well, never does. "But it was just a shot. I never thought about it being a 3."

But Herrington had the ball, and time and distance were not on his side. He took a hard dribble, stayed in the middle of the floor, pulled up from well behind halfcourt - and let it fly.

Only the drama didn't end there.

Watching the play in slow motion, one can see that Herrington holds the ball for less than 2 seconds before taking the shot. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=SOw52qzvhJY#!

It took longer than that for the ball to fall through the basket - even after it hit the backboard.

Literally.

"It was just one of those great moments," said Kee. "It was like a storybook ending. But, I swear, the ball stayed up there at least 35 minutes."

The shot hit the square flush on the backboard, the ball catching the inside of the front of the rim. It rattled in the cylinder, rattled out, glanced the backboard again, then seemed to settle for a moment on the rim support separating the basket and the backboard.

Finally, it fell through for the winning points, giving Fayetteville State an improbable 79-78  victory, and sending the team and FSU students rushing onto the Capel Arena floor.

"I just wanted to get a shot attempt," said Herrington, the CIAA's leader in field goal percentage who finished with 14 points and seven rebounds. "It felt good when it left my hands."