Conor McCaffrey was all set to cut through the lane after inbounding the ball with 9.6 seconds left when a strange thing happened -- extremely strange, actually, considering his postseason history.
Marquis Wallace suddenly went to double-team Paul Hammond in the corner, leaving no one within 15 feet of one of the best clutch shooters in AAU postseason history.
Bad idea. Very bad.
McCaffrey knocked down a wide-open 3-pointer with 5.8 seconds remaining in overtime Sunday night to give Springfield a 96-95 victory over Detroit in Game 5 of the AAU National Championship.
McCaffrey , the shooter dubbed "C-Mac” whose clutch postseason 3-pointers have defined his career, gave the Falcons a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series.
“The play was for me to take that shot, but then I saw Marquis coming," Hammond said "My first option in those moments was Conor. He's a winner. He's been in that situation so many times. Everyone knows what he does."
The Wolverines had one final chance after McCaffrey’s shot, but Tony Hamilton missed a runner from the lane and James Jones rebounded to end it.
After four blowouts, this was the type of game everyone had been waiting almost two weeks to see -- an intense, closely-fought nail-biter befitting of a championship series. The fourth quarter was close throughout, with clutch shots coming from Damien Billups and Hamilton for the Wolverines, and McCaffrey and Hammond of Springfield.
The player who wasn't hitting the big ones was two-time AAU Finals MVP Chandler Dawes, who missed six straight foul shots and a
putback at the end of the fourth quarter that would have won it for the Falcons.
"An absolute nightmare, yes," Dawes said. "[McCaffrey] pulled me out of an incredible hole that I put myself in."
Dawes also missed Springfields first two shots of overtime and lost control of an entry pass with 56 seconds left in the extra period with Detroit ahead 95-93.
An offensive rebound gave Detroit two possessions while running down the final minute of overtime, but Billups missed on a drive with 9.4 seconds remaining. After a timeout, McCaffrey knocked down the 3 that won it.
"You can't go back and say shoulda, woulda, coulda. It was caught in the corner and I just tried to double. Now we have a day and a half. We're cool," Wallace said.
The late 3 wasn't the only big shot by McCaffrey, whose offensive poise was a direct contrast to Dawes troubles.
The Wolverines were ahead 87-85 before McCaffrey caught a pass and quickly launched a 3-pointer that dropped through with 1:17 left in regulation, giving him seven straight points for the Falcons . Dawes had a chance to extend the lead after Hamilton missed a jumper, but the career 69 percent foul shooter missed a pair from the line with 1 minute remaining.
Billups scored on another of his crafty drives to give Detroit an 89-88 lead, and the Wolverines fouled Dawes when he got the ball down low on the next possession. With the crowd noise at its
Loudest of the series, Dawes missed the first foul shot -- making him 0-for-6 in the period -- but made the second.