Dominique Hardimon made a twisting runner over a defender kiss high off the glass, clip the rim and in to complete a fourth-quarter comeback Thursday night.
The Poplar Bluff junior broke a tie with 2.2 seconds left as the Mules knocked off state-ranked Cape Central 50-48 in a SEMO Conference game that made for a memorable homecoming.
"We did draw up the play like that but we didn't draw up that shot," Mules coach William Durden said.
Six minutes earlier, Poplar Bluff trailed by nine.
The Tigers (15-2), ranked fourth in Class 4 of the latest state coaches poll, had an 11-game winning streak dating back to the SEMO Conference Tournament snapped.
Poplar Bluff (9-7, 2-0 SEMO) had lost by five to the Tigers in the opening round of the conference tournament.
"You've got to give credit to Bluff, they play really hard, they're very physical," Central coach Drew Church said.
Hardimon scored on a drive through the middle as he was fouled and completed the three-point play for a 48-47 lead with 48 seconds left.
Tyrus Reddin tied it 10 seconds later when the Central sophomore split two foul shots.
The Mules got the ball to Hardimon who waited for the closing seconds to drive diagonally to the right side of the lane, shooting over 6-foot-5 Austin Parker for the win.
"He struggled getting a shot all game, towards the end it started loosening up for him," Durden said of Hardimon, the team's leading scorer at 20.0 points per game.
"We wanted him to take the shot, we spread the floor for him to isolate on Parker. It was just two good players making good plays."
Following a pair of Central timeouts, the Tigers got off a near-halfcourt shot that hit the top of the backboard.
Church said the loss might not be a bad thing for his team.
"It really makes you refocus and this hurts," he said. "Now the little things we pry on in practice every day mean a little bit more. This group will bounce back."
The teams traded the lead four times in the third quarter before Central closed with a 5-1 run for a 39-34 advantage entering the fourth.
Parker, who led the Tigers with 15 points, got a tip-in and Reddin sank two foul shots after a steal by Kinyon Hodges for a 43-34 lead with 6:03 to play.
Rodney Houston answered with a drive and Tyler Cline knocked down a catch-and-shoot 3 to give the Mules life after Central missed a one-and-one chance at the line.
Minutes later following a Mules turnover and a double-technical foul, Poplar Bluff senior Adrian Webb dove for a loose ball near midcourt for a steal, knocking it to Cline for a layup to cut Central's lead to 44-41.
A steal by Houston later led to a free throw by Webb to pull the Mules within two with 3:24 left. The Tigers turned the ball over twice and had two missed foul shots but Poplar Bluff missed chances to pull closer.
"It's a physical game. Some of the physicality of the game got us off our game and that's not like us," Church said.
With under 2 minutes to play, Cline got a steal as Webb defended the ball but his layup was partially blocked on the other end. Hardimon got a putback to tie the game at 45-all.
The Tigers quickly answered on a layin by Prei Woodson with 1:31 to go but the Mules were patient, working their offense for 40 seconds before Hardimon found an opening for their first lead since midway through the third quarter.
Hardimon led the Mules with 17 points, Xander Martin added 14 but none in the final quarter as Cline came off the bench to score all five of his points. Houston added nine points to go with 10 rebounds and two steals.
"I'm just glad we found a way to win," Durden said. "I think we shot it terrible from the field and we missed a lot of wide-open layups. It's frustrating but we made the ones that count."
The teams were tied three times in the opening quarter with Woodson's tipin giving the Tigers a 14-12 lead entering the second. Controlling the tempo, Central put together an 8-2 run to lead 22-14 with 5:12 left in the half on a drive by Chauncey Hughes, who scored 12 points before fouling out with 3:24 left.
"Chauncey fouls out late there and he's one of our ballhandlers, that hurts," Church said. "We kind of just stopped looking to attack a little bit in the fourth quarter. Usually when we spread it out, we like when they come out and we attack.
"We were a little hesitant and that's not like us."
The Mules forced five turnovers in the final five minutes of the game after Central committed just six through three quarters.
"We felt like we needed to trap and go for it," Durden said. "If not, they would have let the air out of the ball."
The late comeback might have been tougher if not for an 11-5 run to end the first half by the Mules.
Down eight, Martin hit a corner 3 off a pass from Webb but Hughes answered with a 3. Martin later scored a layup off a give-and-go with Nik Rowland after two free throws by Hardimon and an offensive goaltending violation by the Tigers.
Houston's three-point play with 1:20 left in the half got the Mules within 27-25, the halftime score.
Hardimon tied it at 27-all with a baseline drive early in the third quarter.
"They did a good job, they had a good gameplan against us," Durden said. "Luckily we pulled out a win."
NOTES
Cape Central won the junior varsity game 51-49. ...Poplar Bluff was without freshman reserve Joseph Hardimon (ankle), who was averaging 7.7 points. ...Marcedus Leech, who had not played all season recovering from a broken leg, is no longer with the team for violating school and team policy. ...Poplar Bluff improved to 5-4 in games decided by single digits. Central fell to 2-2. ...Central held a 26-25 rebounding advantage led by Parker's eight and Reddin's seven. ... The Mules shot 46.3 percent from the field, including 4 of 11 on 3-pointers. Central connected on 5 of 11 from long range, shooting 43.9 percent overall. ...