Duke do it in 61-59 thriller over Butler

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-04-07 10:51

INDIANAPOLIS - The ball sailed from halfcourt with the buzzer sounding - bounced off the backboard, the rim, the floor.

Duke do it in 61-59 thriller over Butler

Duke's Jon Scheyer (30) and Brian Zoubek celebrate over Butler's Matt Howard at the end of their NCAA National Championship college basketball game in Indianapolis, Indiana, April 5, 2010. Duke defeated Butler, 61-59, to win the championship. [Agencies]

Most of the 70,000 fans on Butler's side let out an "Ohhhhhh", and the Duke players piled on to Kyle Singler at center court. What a game! And what a way to end the season, even if America's favorite underdog came up a little short.

Duke beat Butler 61-59 for the national championship on Monday night, a win that wasn't secure until after the buzzer sounded - when Gordon Hayward's half-court, 3-point heave for the win barely missed to leave tiny Butler one cruel basket short of the Hollywood ending.

Singler scored 19 points and Brian Zoubek rebounded Hayward's miss with 3.6 seconds left - a 15-footer while trailing by 1 - to end the overachieving underdog's try for a real-life Hoosiers sequel.

"We just came up a bounce short," Butler coach Brad Stevens said.

That bounce went in favor of the Blue Devils (35-5), who snapped Butler's 25-game winning streak and brought the long-awaited fourth national title back home to Carolina and the Cameron Crazies.

The "Big Three" - Singler, Jon Scheyer and Nolan Smith - won the Big One for coach Mike Krzyzewski, his first championship since 2001 and the fourth overall, tying Coach K with Adolph Rupp for second place on the all-time list.

"First of all, it was a great basketball game. I want to congratulate an amazing Butler team and their fans," Krzyzewski said. "Fabulous year. We played a great game, they played a great game. It's hard for me to say it, to imagine that we're the national champions."