The refs at a New Jersey high school basketball game are suffering backlash after invalidating a buzzer-beating, game-winning basket.
The shady call occurred on Tuesday as Manasquan High School was down by one to Camden as the clock was counting down to the end of the state semifinal game. The boys, though, seemed to make a last-second basket with time still on the clock.
With the game seemingly won, the team erupted in glee.
But things quickly became worrisome for Manasquan as the refs huddled over the buzzer-beating basket. Soon enough, they deemed the game-ending shot came after the clock hit zero, and the game was a win for Camden, not Manasquan.
After the game, Manasquan head coach Andrew Bilodeau said he was sure that when the shot was made, the clock still had 0.6 seconds left on it. And a video of the game’s final seconds seems to uphold the coach’s view.
“They reversed the call,” Manasquan’s coach said, according to the Asbury Park Press. “The referee in the C position in the middle signaled ‘basket’s good,’ they huddled up, and then 15 kids got screwed in front of 1,000 people. Print that. Print it five times.”
“Those three guys huddled up, and they screwed these kids in front of 1,000 people, and that video will be on the internet for everyone to see,” Bilodeau angrily exclaimed.
Camden coach Maalik Wayns claimed Tuesday night’s win was “luck.”
But many others felt it was bad officiating, not “luck,” that gave Camden the win.
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