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Penn State-Duquesne provides worst bad beat of 2018

Keith Dambrot

Akron head coach Keith Dambrot shouts from the bench in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Villanova, Sunday, Nov. 22, 2015, in Villanova, Pa. (AP Photo/Laurence Kesterson)

AP

Anyone that had money on the Penn State-Duquesne game on Wednesday night is either the the luckiest person on the planet or dealing with the fallout from a bad beat for the ages.

Let’s set the stage. There are 10.2 seconds left. The score is tied at 67 after Duquesne made a free throw. Lamar Stevens gets the ball, goes coast-to-coast and goes up for a layup at the rim. A blocking foul is called! Duquesne head coach Keith Dambrot does not agree. He thinks it’s a charge, and starts letting the referees know. He gets not one, but two technical fouls. He’s tossed.

So Penn State goes to the free throw line for six free throws. They make all six. Game over.

(Since we’re here, two thoughts: 1. That was definitely a blocking foul, and I’m not sure it was all that close. Dambrot’s reaction was over the top. 2. There is no way in hell that those referees should have ever given him a technical foul in that situation. The head coach is pissed because a block-charge call went against him in a tie game with 5.2 seconds left. Anything short of pulling a knife on an official would be a harsh technical foul.)

Brutal, right?

That’s not the most amazing part here.

The line when this game tipped off was Penn State -5.5. They won 73-67, meaning they covered the spread. What’s even crazier is that the total in this game was 138.5, meaning that not only did those free throws give Penn State the cover, it means that the game hit the over.

Never bet, folks.

And if you do, never bet the under.