[Stan]

This just in from my local fish wrap, enjoy!

MOUNT PLEASANT — Alan Magnani took a walk down the hallway inside Ruble Arena and tried to compose himself.

Tears filled his eyes and the emotions of anger and sadness filled his voice.

"It's not fair," the Iowa Wesleyan College men's basketball coach said to no one in particular. "It's not fair."

The arena was quiet 30 minutes after the Tigers played Mount Mercy College in the semifinals of the Midwest Classic Conference tournament, but Magnani's angry words cut through the silence.

Magnani remembered the earlier noise inside the arena, when Nic Wilson's running shot with 2.2 seconds left in the game went through the net to give IWC a one–point lead. He remembered the whistle blowing, the foul being called on Mount Mercy's Marques Braithwaite. He remembered seeing his players celebrating near the bleachers, and some Iowa Wesleyan students coming out of the crowd to join in the jubilation with their friends and classmates.

Moments later, Magnani heard the words he couldn't believe.

"We have to do this."

The three game officials huddled near midcourt, then approached Magnani and Mount Mercy coach Paul Gavin. One of the officials looked toward the scorer's table and made a "T" signal with his hands.

Technical foul on Iowa Wesleyan for fans being on the court.

The next few seconds would be burning in Magnani's mind long after the game was over. Mount Mercy guard Mike Wehr buried his two free throws for the technical, then Wilson missed his for the foul.

Game over, season over for IWC, a bitter 74–73 loss to the Mustangs Sunday afternoon.

"You're supposed to let the players decide the game," Magnani said in the quiet hallway. "You're supposed to give discretion on calls, and then with 2.2 seconds left they decide to go by exactly the letter of the law."

"It's a bad feeling," Wilson said. "A really bad feeling."

Gavin and Magnani, friends off the court, hugged in the hallway moments after the game.

"That's one of my best friends," Gavin said, nodding toward Magnani as he headed to a somber locker room. "You hate to have a game end that way. I've got mixed feelings."

Mount Mercy (17–12), the third seed in the tournament, will play at top seed St. Ambrose Tuesday night in the conference championship. The winner earns an automatic bid into the NAIA Division II national tournament.

Wehr and Wilson scored all of the points in the final, frantic, 21.7 seconds.

Wilson's leaning 15–foot shot gave the Tigers a 71–70 lead. Fourteen seconds later, Wehr drove to the basket and made contact with IWC's Jerome Edwards, who was called for a blocking foul and fouled out of the game.

"They used their discretion there," Magnani said of the officials. "They should have called a charge on Wehr and they call a block on Edwards."

Wehr hit both free throws to put Mount Mercy back on top. IWC (19–13) called a timeout, and it was clear who was going to get the ball — Wilson, the MCC's player of the year who finished this game with 26 points.

Wilson drove the left side of the court, then put up a shot as Braithwaite fouled him. The whistle blew as the ball settled in the net.

Bedlam. As IWC's players celebrated, several fans from the student section came on to the court and were quickly hustled off by IWC athletic director Mike Hampton.

But it was too late.

"You had two teams working their butts off and then the officials decide the game," Magnani said. "Unbelievable."

"I didn't see what happened," Gavin said. "All I know was the officials called us over and one of them said, 'We have to do this.'"

"There were still 2.2 seconds left," Wehr said. "I still thought we were going to win the game, before the technical was called."

IWC athletic department officials would not release the names of the officials after the game. The "Officials" blank on the post–game box score did not list the officials' names.

NAIA officials follow the NCAA men's basketball rule book, which states "followers of a team" cannot be on the court.

"If the ball was still in play, and they were running a play, I could see it," Magnani said. "But it was a dead ball. (The fans) were not interfering with the play."

"I didn't realize they could make that call," said Wilson, who was ready to shoot his free throw when the technical foul was called. "But one call didn't beat us."

Under NCAA rules, the technical free throws had to be shot first. Wehr, who was 9–of–10, wasn't worried as the chaos swirled about.

"I had been working on my free throws and I felt good," Wehr said. "I just blocked everything out."

Wehr made both free throws, then it was Wilson's turn to shoot one. He missed, Mount Mercy got the rebound, and the game was over.

"I was just hoping I would hit it," Wilson said. "You make some shots, you miss some shots. Unfortunately, I missed it."

"He played an exceptional game," Wehr said of Wilson. "It was unfortunate he got put in that situation."

After shaking hands with Gavin, Magnani headed to the student section. But there would be no scolding words.

"I told them, 'Great job,' and I meant it," Magnani said. "They did a great job of supporting us all year, they did a great job of supporting us today."

"Our crowd has been great all year," Wilson said. "They didn't cost us the game."

"I'm just sick to death how this ended," Gavin said.

As the Mount Mercy players headed to the bus, Gavin and Magnani shared one more moment. Then Magnani joined his family waiting nearby.

"I've been coaching 18 years," Magnani said.

"And I've never seen anything like this."