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Bryant's Joe O'Shea delivers March's first buzzer beater

If March doesn't truly become March until the first postseason buzzer beater drops, then consider this the official start of college basketball's most beloved month.

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Third-seeded Bryant trailed sixth-seeded Sacred Heart by three points in the dying seconds of Wednesday night's Northeast Conference quarterfinal when Dan Garvin corralled the rebound of a Dyami Starks missed 3-pointer and saved it to Joe O'Shea. In desperation, the 6-foot-4 senior sank an off-balance 3-pointer from the left of the top of the key as the buzzer sounded, forcing overtime and enabling Bryant to escape with a 91-85 victory after the second extra session.

"I've done this 31 years, and there are certain games you never forget," Bryant coach Tim O'Shea told reporters after the game. "What was special today is this was a tournament game. You lose, you're done. To have that spectacular shot by my nephew, I'm not going to lie. It's really special."

The younger O'Shea is one of the big reasons Bryant (16-14, 12-6) finished tied for second in league play this season and has a realistic chance of securing an NCAA tournament bid. O'Shea averages 10.7 points per game this season and shoots 38.8 percent from beyond the arc. He had a team-high 23 points on Wednesday despite taking only 11 shots.

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The victory was momentous for a Bryant program only six years removed from going 1-29 in its first full year as a member of the NEC and only four years removed from going 2-28 in its third year. The Bulldogs enjoyed a breakthrough 19-win 2012-13 season and have finished in the top three in their league each of the past three years, but they had lost in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament in 2013 and 2014.

(Thanks for the video, ABC6)

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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!