Dream Season Ends for FAU in 72-71 Final Four Loss to Aztecs
. The article is about Florida Atlantic University's men's basketball team losing in the Final Four.
HOUSTON, Texas (AP) - It was one those Final Four buzzer beatings that no one will forget.
The FAU Owls would love to be able to do that.
San Diego State's first visit to the biggest stage in college basketball ended in a painful fashion on Saturday night. Players swarmed onto the court and almost ran over the Owls as they flooded from the bench to celebrate Lamont's buzzer-beater jumper, which gave the Aztecs the 72-71 win.
The Owls, who made history for their school by coming here, were left stunned when they walked off the court as the Aztecs celebrated.
Nick Boyd, a FAU student, said: "I was shocked when the buzzer sounded."
Florida Atlantic players danced and smiled during the second half, when it seemed they were within one victory of a championship no one had predicted.
They ended up with a defeat that no one will ever forget.
Alijah Martin described the shooting as "devastating".
Butler's shot will go down in March Madness history, along with Jalen Suggs long-range buzzer beater for Gonzaga in the national semi-final two years ago, and something that occurred on this floor in Houston when the Final Four took place in 2016. Kris Jenkins' buzzer beater won the title for Villanova.
Butler's buzzer-beater, which won the game for Butler and his team in the Final Four, is the first time in Final Four history that the team trailed before the shot.
FAU, along with UCLA and North Carolina, will be remembered as the victims of some crushing last-second defeats this tournament has ever seen. This one may go down in history as the most heartbreaking.
Jalaffney, a FAU player, recalled the shot minutes after it was fired to send his team back home.
He ended up with a tough 2 which we liked so we will live with the results. It's basketball. (Expletive) happens. We've got live with the fact that he made a great shot.
It didn't seem likely that it would happen.
Gaffney's 3-pointer gave the Owls a 26-24 lead with 7:25 remaining in the first-half. FAU did not trail again until the final buzzer.
The Owls led by nine with 11 minutes left after San Diego State's renowned defense was tested like never before in this tournament.
The Aztecs tied the game with just over 4 1/2 minutes remaining. They had been within two points for about 10 minutes.
Giancarlo Rosedo gave the Owls a second-half lead with a fadeaway swerve jumper, but it wasn't until Martin's layup with 45 seconds remaining that they managed to score another field goal.
Jaedon leDee made a jumper with 36 seconds remaining to reduce FAU's advantage to 1.
Johnell Davis missed an easy layup that would have extended the lead with just nine seconds remaining.
Nathan Mensah grabbed the rebound, before Butler's shot sailed through the net just as the final buzzer sounded to bring an end to this Cinderella dream season.