Sports

Navy Basketball Won’t Play In March Madness As Season Ends On Clock Error Controversy

#Navy Midshipmen
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The Navy basketball team lost to conference rival Boston in the Patriot League Tournament on Sunday. The Midshipmen will not play in March Madness.

Instead, the team is likely headed to another postseason tournament following their best season in 40 years. A controversial clock error on the final play of the game is now being discussed.

Navy entered the event as the top seed looking to put a bow on a dominant campaign. The Midshipmen rolled through conference play with a 17-1 mark to win a Patriot League regular season title.

Their 26 overall victories rank second in program history. Still, they needed to win the conference tournament in order to advance to the Big Dance.

As the No. 1 team, Navy received a first-round bye. It then beat Bucknell in the Quarterfinals to move onto the Semis.

A win over Boston would’ve put them in the championship game. They will not get that opportunity.

Boston basketball shocked Navy.

The Midshipmen jumped out to a quick 14-5 lead, but Boston battled back. The Terriers held a one-point advantage at the halftime break. The game would stay tight throughout the final 20 minutes.

Navy regained its lead, which grew to as many as six, but it was never able to put Boston away. The score was tied at 70 with less than 10 seconds left on the clock.

The Midshipmen inbounded, drove the length of the floor, and scored a go-ahead layup with 3.6 seconds remaining. Fireworks would follow.

On its next possession, Boston hit a game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer. The Terriers left with a 73-72 win to advance to the Patriot League championship.

Should the shot have counted?

The clock didn’t start on time.

Chance Gladden is the player that took the final shot. He received an inbound pass with 3.6 on the clock, dribbled up court, and hit a three from the logo.

In all, his trip took 3-4 seconds.

Viewers noticed that the clock did not start on time. Gladden was nearing midcourt by the time the operator began running the final seconds.

It may or may not have cost Navy a shot at March Madness.

Most agree that around 3.5 seconds elapsed from the time Gladden caught the inbound to the time the shot left his hands. It would’ve been bang-bang had the clock started when it was supposed to.

Without the ability to reverse time, we’ll never know. Officials then made things more confusing by adding time back to the clock for an ensuing Navy possession.

Chance Gladden’s shot might’ve beat the buzzer either way. It could be a moot point. For what it’s worth, I clocked Gladden’s release coming at 3.48 seconds.

Unfortunately, the clock error puts some doubt as to that final outcome which ended the Midshipmen’s March Madness pursuits.