When Donovan Souter’s shot in the final seconds of the American Southwest Conference men’s tournament championship game fell through the net, a massive celebration began for UT-Dallas, leaving the Mary Hardin-Baylor faithful stunned.

The reaction was partly due to the Comets earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament next weekend in their final season of postseason eligibility before beginning the transition to NCAA Division II. Another reason for the reaction was the sheer improbability of UT-Dallas winning the game.

UT-Dallas trailed the Cru 77-71 with 17.9 seconds left after likely the greatest men’s basketball player in ASC history, Josiah Johnson, made the back end of a one-and-one at the free throw line. At this point, UMHB held a 99.4 percent chance of winning the contest, according to the win probability calculator at barttorvik.com.

Nick Donnelly juggled a pass from Luke Kiser before pulling up and nailing a 3-pointer to bring UTD within 77-74 with 11.5 seconds remaining on the ensuing possession.

The next play is the source of much debate across social media in a contest where both teams entered knowing their season was over with a loss. UMHB coach Clif Carroll drew a play to get Johnson or Eli Beard the ball. Beard broke from the left wing towards the ball while Johnson cut towards the basket. UTD immediately doubled Johnson, leaving Beard to receive the inbounds pass.

Beard used his body to shield the ball from Kiser, who was trailing Beard and attempted the steal. Kiser got his hand around Beard and on the ball. The official blew his whistle while signaling an alternate possession, giving the Comets the ball under their basket with 10.5 seconds remaining. Riley Zayas of TruToTheCru.com captured the moment on Twitter and provided a slow-motion replay.

I consulted with a current NCAA basketball official, who referred me to Rule 6-4.2.a in the NCAA men’s basketball rulebook, which covers alternating possession situations. The rule states that, “a held ball occurs when an opponent places their hand(s) so firmly on the ball that control cannot be obtained without undue roughness.”

The ensuing inbounds play for UTD was executed to perfection. Souter and Donnelly ran around screens set by Austin Page and Kiser. UMHB’s defense was caught switching, allowing Kiser to leak to the basket wide open for a layup to bring the Comets within 77-76 with 8.7 seconds left.

The Comets fouled Josh Goings, who stepped to the free-throw line with 7.8 seconds on the clock. Goings missed the front end of a one-and-one, leaving Page from UTD and Johnson from UMHB to battle for the rebound. Neither player secured the ball, which fell out of bounds and was awarded to the Comets.

Following a lengthy replay, the officials determined there wasn’t enough evidence on replay to overturn the initial call, giving the Comets the basketball with 6.5 seconds remaining. The video below was enhanced and slowed down.

Kiser took the ensuing inbounds pass and raced down the floor, intending to get to the rim. Three UMHB defenders converged on Kiser, who found a Souter cutting to the basket for the game-winning shot.

“I have to give credit to coach because that’s a good play that we’ve run for the three years that I’ve been here, and it’s worked almost every time,” Kiser said during the postgame press conference. “I got to the paint and saw I didn’t have a shot, but I saw Donovan cutting from the corner. I was able to find him and get him a good look.”

UT-Dallas won its fifth ASC men’s basketball tournament title and departs the conference tied with Mississippi College for the most ASC tournament titles. The Comets will find out who and where they play in the NCAA DIII Tournament at noon on Monday. Meanwhile, UMHB coaches, players, and fans suffered a heartbreaking loss.

“We weren’t aligned properly on the last play. I had timeouts in my pocket and should’ve used one to set us up for the final play,” Carroll said. “UT-Dallas ran a good play, Kiser made one heckuva pass, and Souter made a tough shot. We didn’t get the close calls late, but we had a chance to win, and we didn’t.”