Wrapped Up In a Series Of Twists

Seeing the shot come out, Singletary fell to the floor, face down, burying his head.

No one understood how Singletary felt when the shot rimmed out better than his coach. As soon as the buzzer sounded, Leitao was on the court, helping Singletary to his feet, wrapping his arms around him, whispering in his ear. Twenty-five years ago as a junior at Northeastern, Leitao had two shots in the final six seconds of overtime that could have given the Huskies a stunning second-round upset over Villanova. Instead, the Wildcats won the game in triple overtime.

"When I say I know how he felt, I know how he felt," Leitao said. "I had an open shot with six seconds to go and then got the rebound and missed again. It's an awful, empty feeling. At least in that situation, the game wasn't over. This time, the game was over. I feel very connected to Sean. Whether he plays well or doesn't play well is less important to me than what he's meant to the program. At that moment, I wanted him to know that."

Singletary understood.

"He's been through it before, so he understands," he said. "He told me it wasn't about the last shot."

It was a bittersweet moment: a classy coach comforting a classy player at the end of a classic game. A few feet away Pearl waited to shake hands with Leitao and Singletary.

"We celebrate; they console," he said. "It easily could have been the other way around."

It was a memorable ending to a game neither side will forget anytime soon.

Nor should they.