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Sport

05th Apr 2016

These final 5 seconds of the NCAA final remind us precisely why we love sport

One of the most dramatic endings sport has ever seen...

Simon Lloyd

As far as dramatic endings to sporting finals go, most of us thought what happened in the final over of the World T20 cricket on Sunday wouldn’t be topped for a good while.

We were wrong.

Little over a day after Ben Stokes had been smashed all over Eden Gardens by Carlos Brathwaite, the NCAA basketball final in Houston served up a jaw-dropping climax.

Of course, college sports are a big deal over in the US, with the NCAA final one of the most famous events in the American sporting calendar.

This year’s final saw Villanova take on North Carolina in front of a packed NRG Stadium.

Amongst the spectators was Michael Jordan, who famously helped North Carolina to the 1982 final before embarking on his own legendary basketball career.

With just five seconds remaining, Jordan was delighted to see North Carolina level the scores at 74-74 through a Marcus Paige three-pointer.

Unfortunately for those rooting for North Carolina, the euphoria didn’t last long.

With less than a second to go, Kris Jenkins produced his own three-pointer for Villanova – sealing the most remarkable of buzzer-beating victories, cue complete pandemonium…