Picture this. Your season’s on the line; crowd’s going nuts, national semifinals; 4.9 seconds left; down by one. Who do you want to take the shot?
That’s the decision Dave Smart and the Carleton Ravens faced on March 14. With 4.9 seconds Carleton inbounded the ball to fifth-year guard Stuart Turnbull in back-court. He beelined to the University of Western Ontario Mustangs three-point line and took a hesitation dribble, before driving to his left. He stopped on a dime 15 feet from the hoop, faded and fired. The shot was perfect. It rippled the mesh just as the buzzer had sounded. Game over. Carleton 66 Western 65.
"That’s not what I dream about, that’s what I have nightmares about. God I don’t want to being doing that again. It was awful," said Turnbull, laughing afterward.
It was only fitting the fifth-year guard had a chance at redemption after missing two costly free throws with 13 seconds left.
"I’m never going to forget about it. Those two free throws will be with me until I die," he said.
Turnbull collapsed to the floor after nailing the game winner. He was mobbed by teammates, stray fans and just about anybody who could get their hands on him.
"I had pretty good feeling when he got over half and set the guy up it was going in. I had seeing it too many times in practice," said teammate Aaron Doornekamp, who fouled out with two minutes remaining.
Smart said because Western didn’t help off shooters in the corners Turnbull was matched up one-on-one with fellow fifth-year guard Matt Curtis.
"That’s kind of his shot. That shot he took," Smart said.
Okay, coaches, now you know. If Turnbull has the ball at the end of the game, he’s going to drive left, stop on a dime and hit a fade-away jumper.
"The player of the year in the country stepped up and hit the shot he had to to win the game," said Western coach Brad Campbell, who graciously did interviews after such a heart-wrenching defeat.
There was much more to the game than the fateful 4.9 seconds that ultimately decided the outcome.
Carleton got off to a quick start. Turnbull made a steal and quickly drained a three. But Curtis answered for Western with a three of his own.
The tone was set. It was going to be a dog fight.
Kevin McCleery knocked down a layup, Doornekamp drained a pair of free throws to help give Carleton an early 9-6 lead. But Western went on a 11-0 run paced by Andrew Wedemire, who knocked down two from behind the arch.
Carleton closed the gap to 19-13 at the end of the first with help from solid free-throw shooting. Carleton was ice cold from everywhere else, shooting a dismal 27 per cent from the floor.
"You gotta give them credit. They do a great job defensively. They make everything tough," Smart said.
It was much of the same in the second, except Carleton ratcheted the screws on defense, holding the Mustangs to 9 in the quarter. But they still couldn’t buy a bucket. They tied up the Mustangs due to polished free-throw shooting as Stu Turnbull penetrated the D and Doornekamp went to work in the post.
They were 11 of 14 from the charity stripe for the half, while the Mustangs shot a horrifying two of nine. The score at half was a 28-28 deadlock.
The start of third wasn’t pretty for the Ravens. Both Mike Kenny and Rob Saunders picked up their fourth fouls within the first two minutes and had to ride the pine.
Keenan Jeppesen, who had been riding the pine for the Mustangs in the first half due to foul trouble, nailed a trey and a pair of free throws to give Western an early five-point lead.
"We were in a lot of foul trouble. I mean so were they. But we had some main guys in some serious foul trouble," Smart said.
Doornekamp answered Western’s mini-run with a pair of hoops and Carleton edged its way to a 51-46 lead at the end of the third.
The intensity of the fourth quarter was evident. Turnbull buried a three only to be answered by Western forward Brad Smith. Carleton bumped the lead up to five on several occasions but could not make it any larger.
Western guard Alex Brzozowicz drilled a rainmaker to bring the Mustangs within two with two minutes to play. Doornekamp then missed two three-pointers and then promptly fouled out going up for a defensive rebound.
It wasn’t a memorable game for the former player of the year. He shot a mediocre 4-15, including 1-8 from downtown. Still, he managed 16 points.
Western pulled within one on a free throw, but McCleery buried his right-handed hook to restore the Ravens’ lead with under a minute to play.
Western’s Jeppesen answered with an offensive rebound put-back with 15 seconds left to pull within one.
Turnbull was fouled missed a pair of free throws.
With no timeouts left Western rebounded the miss, drove the ball down the court and Curtis was fouled. He buried both his free throws – not surprising, as Campbell refers to the guard as the "heart and soul of the team."
The stage had been set for Turnbull’s heroics. He paced the Ravens with 19 points, while Andrew Wedemire led the Mustangs with 14.
"It’s very difficult to say anything at this point," Campbell said. "We did everything we could to win the game."