CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Given the situation, the stakes and indeed the laws of physics, that shouldn't have happened.
Midway through Tuesday's Atlantic Sun Tournament quarterfinal overtime against North Florida, DeMarcus Sharp had his pocket picked. When talking about all the elements that had to align for this play in the first place, Sharp getting stripped of the ball has to rank near the top for sheer improbability. The last time someone just took the ball from Sharp, he might not have been able to tie his shoes on his own yet.
Yet there was North Florida's Jaylen Young, streaking toward the hoop for what would have been the go-ahead bucket after dispossessing Austin Peay's offensive supernova.
Instead, this happened.
I'm sure y'all have heard of The Block—Josh Lewis' season-saving swat in the dying embers of Austin Peay's 2003 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament semifinal game against Murray State, which preserved the win and helped send the Govs on to a title the following day. Consider this its spiritual successor, a chase down denial at the rim that not only erased what would have otherwise been a sure two points but might have altered the course of the ASUN Tournament.
(I asked Austin Peay head coach Corey Gipson to compare the Lewis and Sharp swats—few people are better qualified for this line of questioning, since he played with the former and coaches the latter. His response: "They all matter. When it is on the line and you know that there is no tomorrow, you do whatever it takes to get the job done. Everything that every brother has done for the Governors' program, it all matters. They are all significant.")
Sharp was the catalyst every time one was needed Tuesday night, and never more so than in that moment, when many (most? All?) other players would have despaired at their misfortune, even if for a split-second, before making a half-hearted show of contesting the layup. Many (most? All?) other players would have focused on going back down to the offensive end to try to tie the game back up.
Sharp didn't do that. Sharp bolted straight down the court, sized up his angle at full speed and authoritatively smacked Young's layup attempt off the backboard. Sharp is not like many (or most, or all) other players. And his singularity was on full display in the quarterfinals, where he authored one of the more complete, dominating performances by a Governor in postseason play in the long and distinguished history of the program.
To put it another way, there was something that felt a little "Senior season Chris Horton-y" about Tuesday's Sharp outing. That je nais se quois went well beyond the box score, although Sharp's contributions there were prodigious—35 points, nine rebounds, four assists, two blocks and a steal are everyone this side of Nikola Jokic's definition of a great game. There was an edge to his game, a subtle but pressing and persistent insistence that this wasn't going to be the end for him and the Govs this season.
For 41 minutes, Sharp spoke without saying a word—I'm not going out just yet. Not like this. Not right now.
He played with a chip on his shoulder, and it's not going anywhere either. Sharp carries himself like a first-team All-ASUN player, because he believes he should have been and said as much postgame, while citing the accomplishments of teammates Dezi Jones, Isaac Haney and Ja'Monta Black. He used the word snubbed. He felt disrespected.
He might have a point. And he might spend a couple more games reinforcing that point too.
He'll get another chance Thursday, and if that crowd is anything like the one that showed up on Tuesday night, F&M Bank Arena might attain orbit. Gipson, who played before some of the most packed-out, rollicking crowds at the Dunn Center as a player, called it, "electric… I couldn't hear my heartbeat, I couldn't hear myself breathe."
"Thursday is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Gipson said. "We never hosted two games at the Dunn when I played. This is about putting on for Clarksville, for Fort Campbell, for the 931. I didn't see this [kind of crowd] when I was a player. And once they turned it on Tuesday night, our guys took it up a notch."
Postgame Tuesday night was bedlam. A din of noise, music, cheering, chants, blended together into a delirious scene. Gipson hopping on the scorer's table, pumping his fists and waving his arms in utter glee, immediately went viral. Sharp and his teammates disappeared into a jubilant throng of fans, soaking in the moment, the heroes who authored a signature moment for Austin Peay basketball in its brand-new home.
Let's make Thursday night another signature moment at F&M Bank Arena.
