On a Saturday that was wildly unpredictable and wildly favorable for the Atlantic 10 Conference, the Massachusetts Minutemen made sure they weren't left out of the parade.

A wacky hoops weekend became a little more crazy in the final 3.8 seconds of a barnburner in Boston, as TD Banknorth Garden - a building that has already witnessed an NBA Finals, a classic postseason series (Boston-Chicago 2009), and a memorable NCAA regional final (Villanova's one-point win over Pittsburgh last spring) - played host to another magical basketball moment.

The outlook was grim for UMass and Coach Derek Kellogg heading into the final few seconds of an even-steven affair with Memphis. The visiting Tigers - successful on the court but not so accomplished off it, thanks to the contradictory qualities of former coach John Calipari - held a 72-71 lead and forced a jump ball with 3.8 seconds remaining. Luckily, UMass kept the ball because the possession arrow pointed in its direction, but the subject of luck would be re-defined on the subsequent series of events.

The Minutemen turned the ball over on the ensuing inbounds pass, but as soon as a blue-shirted Memphis defender began to gather in the ball, UMass guard Ricky Harris was able to swat the ball away and direct the orange sphere to teammate Terrell Vinson. The 6-7 wing from Baltimore quickly and alertly banked the ball into the hoop with just three tenths of a second remaining on the scoreboard clock. Since a shot cannot be caught and then legally released before the horn when only three tenths of a second remain, the Minutemen thought they had wrapped up the win. However, the officiating crew looked at the TV monitor at the scorer's table and added four tenths of a second, thereby bringing the clock time to 0.7 seconds. Memphis - given the ability to make a legal catch-and-shoot attempt - threw up a halfcourt heave, but when the ball landed well short of the rim, UMass had bagged a big one on a breakthrough day for non-Xavier schools in the Atlantic 10.