Florida Atlantic went to overtime with Northwestern in NCAA Tournament after flagrant foul
Friday's FAU-Northwestern game was crazy but the craziest play happened late in the second half as the Owls were mounting their comeback from a 9-point deficit.
Florida Atlantic erased that deficit with help from a hit to the face from Northwestern's Nick Martinelli on FAU center Vlad Goldin was assessed a flagrant foul. The play - which took officials a few minutes to sort out - truly swung the momentum to FAU.
Are they cheating? Or are they just so f-Ing incompetent? These guy have missed SO many calls. Now they’re inventing reasons for FAU to win. What a joke! #FAU #Northwestern #NCAAMarchMadness #MarchMadness2024 #MarchMadness #Officiating #NCAABasketball pic.twitter.com/VRXp7mBToZ
— Matt Stevens (@newsmatt57) March 22, 2024
FAU basketball battles back, forces overtime
After trailing by as many as nine points, FAU tied up the game late and took the lead at 58-56 with less than a minute to play. The Owls, who had a season-high in turnovers, finally appeared to wake up to salvage their season.
But the Wildcats scored with 10 seconds left and we're in overtime at Barclays Center.
After FAU missed a free-throw with 20 seconds left, Brooks Barnhizer got Goldin to bite on a pump-fake and scored on a game-tying driving layup with nine seconds to play.
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With the clock winding down, Johnell Davis appeared to be expecting a timeout from Dusty May, which never came. He forced a deep contested three-pointer that missed everything.
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: FAU basketball's Vlad Goldin gets hit by Northwestern in March Madness