Nate Bain hit a breakaway layup at the overtime buzzer to send Stephen F. Austin to a stunning victory over No. 1 Duke, 85-83. The wild moment ended the Blue Devils' 150-game home winning streak against nonconference opponents.
Bain is a senior from Freeport, Bahamas. When Hurricane Dorian ripped thorough the Bahamian islands in September, his family lost almost everything.
Bain's father is a minister and watched as his church, which also serves as a school, suffered catastrophic damage.
"The university, our compliance folks...put together a Go Fund Me for the family," says Rob Meyers, SFA's assistant athletics director for business operations, who also serves as the team's radio play-by-play voice.
Meyers says they had some response, but only a couple thousand dollars in the fundraiser that was hoping for $50,000.
Then, the moment.
With the game tied at 83-83 in overtime, Bain grabbed a loose ball, raced to the other end, and laid in the winning basket as time expired. He and the Lumberjacks had just knocked off the No. 1 team in the land.
"I was almost at a loss for words," says Meyers. "I just couldn't describe it. It was just incredible."
He wasn't the only one stunned. SFA was stunned. Duke was stunned in a different sort of way. And down Tobacco Road, Duke's arch-rival North Carolina was giddy over the bad fortune of the Blue Devils.
"The cause has picked up again, ironically enough by the Tar Heel Nation," says Meyers. "They started tweeting it out, 'Hey, let's help this guy!'"
Now the Go Fund Me account is overflowing with activity. At 4:37 P.M. CT on Wednesday, the fundraiser was at $79,797.
According to Meyers, it couldn't happen to a better guy.
"He is what you hope that all (players) would be like," says Meyers. "He's been embraced by the community, and, obviously, his teammates. He's just a great guy. And I couldn't be happier that it was him who got it done."