See post #9 in this thread for clarification from the OP.

They didn't have an extra point. The scoreboard is not official, the book is official. The overtime should have been played. Btw, were they lucky enough to have the crowd leave before they came out and started the OT? It might be nice to have them gone so you wouldn't have to listen to their thoughts on the screw up for the entire overtime.

Yes, it was found in the (score) book, not on the scoreboard. According to the first post, the error was found in the book. He never said the "error" was on the scoreboard.

Wrong.
Rule 2-2-4--"The jurisdiction of the officials is terminated and the final score has been approved when all officials leave the visual confines of the playing area."

No brainer. There's no rule saying OT can be played after all of the officials left the court.

Yeahbut I *still* like MTD's answer!

It's not very often we get to see him playing fast & loose.

Ok, I'm confused now, too. Where does the OP state the error was on the scoreboard? He stated: "After a few minutes the book keepers found a discrepency in the book that had the game tied." :confused:

It sounds to me like this story is being told second hand. The OP heard about this play and "was told" by whoever was at the game, that the home team was down 2. I read that as the scoreboard showed that the home team was down 2.

This is only a guess because the OP is pretty confusing. Maybe the OP can come back and clear some things up for us.

Presumably when the officials left the court, the book had one team leading by 1. That's the score that was approved when they left the court, and that should have been the "official" final score.

My guess is that the running score (at the top of the book) showed something like 61-60. Then, when all the individual points were added up, they came to 61-61.

Too late, imo. The 61-60 running score is official.

It does sound like to me that the final score was approved with one team winning, and after the officials left someone went through the books and found an issue. The score in the official book when the officials left is the final score.

Remember running score is the official score. I know it is hard to get that right and check it at the end. I guess it took them several minutes to compare running scores that Lets see running score in Official book shows 60-61 (example) Visitors book shows 60-61.... No brainer that is the score, game is done. How does anyone know that the running score was not in fact right but that someone added missed a FT, or only marked 2 for a player that was scored a three in the running score It does not matter what the players totals equal up to....

Once again I will get on my soapbox... We hear of these plays over and over again. Where are the officials doing their job during the game?

At half when we go to table, if I am R, I usually ask if the books match and ask them outloud if the score is XX to XX (what ever is on the board)

If it is a close game you know there are going to be a bunch of timeouts. At every time out I will always ask what the score is and verify it is correct. I make sure the visitor's book agrees.

We have to check. A couple of weeks a go I had a close game (2 points) and we had 6 or 7 timeouts in the last 3 minutes. We checked at every time out.
Then We as a crew talked noting that the book and scoreboard all matched...

Talk, communicate, and verify

Exactly. If the running score showed 60-60 in the official book (and, say, the scoreboard showed 61-60) and the officials all ran off, I think you have to get the officials back and play OT. But if the running score in the official book showed 61-60, all the officials ran off, and a few minutes later the scorekeepers discovered a discrepency, it's too late. Game over.

Another reason why, in closely contested games that are nearing an end, it is worthwhile for the R to go to the table during a timeout (and there are always timeouts in the last few minutes of close games) and try to make sure that everyone is in agreement.

The officials did their jobs. The scorers didn't do theirs. We can ask, but we can only go by what we are told. If the scorer says the book is OK, there is nowayinhell it is ever the officials' fault if a mistake is found later.

why cant this ever happen in the 78-23 game -- "official! sir the score was actually 78-25, and we need you to come out and finish the second half" -- :)