In front of a packed HSBC Arena, in Buffalo, NY, the Duke Blue Devils faced off against the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Rams in the first round of the 2007 NCAA Basketball Tournament. Duke was coming off of 9 straight years of reaching at least the sweet sixteen, while this was only VCU’s third trip to the tournament in team history.

Duke gained possession of the ball, down 2, with about 15 seconds remaining. Rather than calling a timeout and setting up a play in the final seconds to either tie the game, sending into overtime, or winning it with a 3-pointer, junior guard DeMarcus Nelson went to the net, making a layup, and tying the game at 77-77 still with about 10 seconds left on the clock. This left VCU with plenty of time to setup a final possession to win the game.

Sophomore guard, Eric Maynor, hit a jump shot from the top of the key with only 1.8 seconds remaining to pull VCU ahead by 2, and giving VCU the win over Duke, 79-77, breaking the Blue Devils’ streak and giving them their first loss in the opening round of the tournament since 1996. HSBC Arena, full of both closet Duke fans & closet Duke haters, erupted in cheers of celebration and moans of agony as Maynor’s shot hit nothing but net. Sophomore guard Greg Paulus put up a desperation heave from half court as time expired, but the ball fell harmlessly to the floor after banking high off of the backboard.

The game was well played by both teams and it seemed like Duke had the advantage several times. Paulus finished with a career high of 25 points.

VCU will face third-seeded Pittsburgh, a 79-58 winner over Wright State, on Saturday.