Mercy Rule Help

[crosscountry55]

I've run across this same dilemma in a multitude of youth games that employ a running clock. I've never seen any running clock rule (youth game, camp game, or HS mercy rule) specify how such a situation is to be treated. So without guidance and in consideration of the paltry pay usually at stake, I generally could care less how the timer chooses to interpret the rule.

More often than not, most timers seem to defer to the "start it when it would have started absent the rule" methodology. I have seen some coaches intentionally call timeout during free throws for the express purpose of saving as much time as possible, knowing that the clock will remain stopped during the FTs after the TO.