It was so close. The 15 seed has expanded their lead all the way to 12 points with 15 minutes to play. But we all knew that Arkansas wasn’t going away. In almost a complete copy from their regular season game, Arkansas came back. Just this time, the Razorbacks weren’t able to break free.

By the 8 minute mark, the Golden Eagles lead was down to 3. And at the 7 minute mark, Davante Davis made a jumper to tie the game at 58 for Arkansas. Both teams would come back and forth scoring and matching. And with 1:48 in the game, Oral Robert’s Max Abmas found Kevin Obanor under the basket for a layup and a foul. Obanor’s free throw gave the Golden Eagles a 1 point lead.

It wouldn’t last long, Jalen Tate, the Razorback’s leading scorer with 22 points in the game, drove to the basket on the next possession for the Razorbacks and hit his jumper to give Arkansas the lead back. Oral Roberts turned the ball over. But they played good defense and forced a missed shot by Arkansas’ Moses Moody. And then off a missed three by ORU’s Obanor, Francis Lacis pulled down the offensive rebound, got fouled as he went back up, and hit one of the two free throws to tie the game with 32 seconds.

Arkansas held for the equivalent of the last shot. Jalen Tate drove to the lane with the clock running down and passed the ball to Davante Davis. Davis made a move to the basket, and hit the jumper over the Golden Eagles’ defender with just 3 seconds left for a 72-70 lead.

So the stage was set. 3 seconds left for the Golden Eagles’ season. Everyone knew that they would want to get the ball into Max Abmas, who was their leading scorer for the season, and had already scored 25 points in the game. Oral Roberts had a nice in-bounds play that managed to get Abmas the ball as he was already moving to the basket. Abmas drove down the sideline, managed to get to the three-point line with still time in the game, and was able to get some space to get an open three-point shot at the buzzer.

Time seemed to stand still as the ball left Abmas’ hand, the buzzer sounded, and everyone held their breath watching the shot head to the basket. The game-winner hit the front of the rim, bounced harmlessly off the backboard and missed. The clock had struck midnight for Cinderella – the dance was over.

Arkansas survived the scare and advanced to the Elite 8 to play Big 12 regular season champion Baylor. And while it is over, Oral Roberts certainly had an unforgettable March – they were literally inches away from becoming the first 15 seed to play in the Elite 8.