‘Unbelievable clutch’ buzzer-beating 3-pointer in CIS hoops playoffs (video)

Do you believe in unlikelihoods? The University of Fraser Valley Cascades could not have scripted a more dramatic finale to the biggest win in their short history in Canadian Interuniversity Sport.

On Saturday, the Cascades were in a two-to-tie, three-to-win scenario in the final seconds of the decisive game of their Canada West conference quarter-final series against the Lethbridge Pronghorns. As they looked for the tying basket, the inbound play didn't go exactly as they drew it up. Leading scorer Joel Friesen got the ball and the screen that briefly opened a lane to the basket, but the Pronghorns cut him off and forced him to kick the ball out to the perimeter.

However, the beauty of basketball is the game rewards a gift for improv. Friesen got a return feed from guard Sam Freeman and the rest was last-second magic, complete with the announcers losing their minds on air after the shot dropped through for the 69-68 win.

The victory sent the Cascades, who have risen to No. 4 in the CIS coaches' poll, to their first Canada West Final Four since moving up to the university level in 2006. They'll play the Victoria Vikes, who also won their quarter-final on a buzzer-beating shot.

(The winners of Friday's UFV-Victoria and Alberta-Saskatchewan semifinal games advance to the following weekend's CIS Final 8 in Halifax. The winner of the third-place game will have a shot at the wild-card berth.)

Friesen is the Cascades' go-to shooter, having averaged a team-best 16.8 points in the regular season, good for 11th in Canada West. He's the one UFV coach Barnaby Craddock would want to take a last-second shot to save the season. But the coach couldn't say that was planned and keep a straight face. From the school's release:

It goes to show the best basketball moments don't have to come in the biggest venue or come in front of a national TV audience. (You don't know what you're missing if you've never taken the time to introduce yourself to CIS basketball.) The way the camera stayed fixed on the Cascades' basket instead of the mass of humanity celebrating at midcourt even adds to the charm. It's fun to think the cameraperson was so caught up in what had just happened that he or she was jumping up and down in exultation.

Talk about the agony of defeat for Lethbridge. Due to the amount of travel in Canada West, the team with home-court advantage in a playoff series gets it for all three games, so the guests have the daunting task of winning twice in someone else's gym. The Pronghorns came within a couple of seconds of doing it. They defended the endgame very well. Six-foot-six senior forward Derek Waldner closed the lane, cutting off Friesen's drive to the hoop and making him give up the ball. After Friesen received the return pass and up-faked Waldner in the corner, 6-foot-7 Dominyc Coward got out to wave a hand in Friesen's line of sight as he took the fadeaway jumper. What else were they supposed to do there?

The same scene plays out in gyms and arenas across North America in the late winter. Two teams going tooth and nail and having the fate of their seasons come down to one shot. Whether it is CIS, NCAA, high school, middle school or youth league, it never gets old.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Contact him at neatesager@yahoo.ca and follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.