Jake Voskuhl had never made a game-winning basket -- not in grade school and so far not in his AAU career, but in Game 4, his fate changed.
The backup center scored on a jump hook over Chandler Dawes after recieving a pass from Terrance Hardaway with 2.3 seconds left to give Phoenix an 86-84 come-from-behind victory over Springfield.
"Normally, I'm running out to set screens," Voskuhl said. "The ball ended up in Terrance's hands. Terrance beat his defender. My defender went to help pick up Terrance, and he flipped it over to me. I just turned around and hit a hook shot."
It was Phoenix only lead of the fourth quarter.
Chandler Dawes, who had 24 points and 11 rebounds, missed an off-balance 16-footer at the buzzer.
The victory tied the best-of-seven series at 2-2, with Game 5 coming up in a few days.
"We were sloppy," Springfield head coach Will Jenkins said. "It was gross turnovers that made for easy layups at the other end."
Springfield committed 25 turnovers resulting in 33 Phoenix points.
"We just kind of gave it to them," said Dawes, who had six of the turnovers, "and they were there to take it."
Stephon Thompson, who said he had no feeling in his right arm after a collision with Clarence Davis in the third quarter, scored 18. Shawn Steveson had 17 points and Hardaway had 13 points and seven assists, including the game-winner. Scottie Williams added 10 for Phoenix.
Springfield's Jamison Jones III, 3-for-18 from the field in the first three games of the series, shot 7-of-8 -- five of them 3-pointers -- for a career playoff high 19 points, but didn't take a shot in the final 6:55. Conor McCaffrey added 19 points, 15 in the first half.
Springfield led by 12 early in the fourth quarter and was up 75-64 after Jones III made his last 3-pointer with 6:55 remaining.
Hardaway and Josiah Johnson, who scored six crucial points in the fourth quarter, made consecutive 3-pointers to ignite a 12-2 run that cut the lead to 77-76.
Dawes's three-point play with 3:12 left made it 80-76. Johnson made one of two free throws before Thompson -- who aggravated a stretched nerve in his shoulder in a third-quarter collison with Davis and was awful from the outside after that -- missed two free throws with 2:39 to go.
The game was tied twice more, the last at 84-84 on Hardaway's two free throws with 44.1 seconds to go.
Thompson usually is the one to take the last shot in a close game.
"I did want that last shot, but I knew I wasn't going to shoot a jump shot, because I couldn't," Thompson said. "I had no feeling in my arm. I had to really concentrate on passing the ball."
Thompson dribbled the clock down and then got the ball to Hardaway, whose drive drew two defenders. He dished the ball to Voshkuhl, who made the shot as the fans erupted.
"The ball just ended up in my hands. I just tossed it up and it went in," said Voshkuhl, who scored all seven of his points in the second half. "This was great for the team, great for our program. We feel we have a real chance to knock out Springfield."
Voskuhl's two big baskets lat were his only shots of the game, and two is about his usual total.
"We love his intensity," coach Frank Johnson said. "He blocks shots, he rebounds and he plays tough defense."
Only two eighth-seeded teams in AAU history have knocked off a No.1 seed, but Phoenix has a legitimate chance of becoming the third. They defeated Springfield three times during the regular season, then won Game 1 of the series, to gather all the momentum.
"When our backs are up against the wall, we contiune to play. We never back down. You've got to have heart, and we have a lot of heart," Thompson said.
Springfield scored the first five points of the fourth quarter on four free throws by Charlie Dawes and one by Paul Hammond on a techincal foul against Thompson, Damion Anderson was called for an offensive foul, his fifth foul of the game.
But Thompson stole the ball from Chandler Dawes for a breakaway that cut Springfield's lead to 77-74 with four minutes remaining.
Double-teamed incessantly in the first three games of the series, Dawes faced two defenders only periodically. He was 5-for-6 for 11 points in the first half.