I had no rooting interest in the game and did not watch enough to have a view of the overall reffing but I did think that last play probably should have been called an offensive foul. It’s a REALLY hard thing to call in real time, in that situation, amidst a lot of chaos and you hate to wave off a game winning basket, so you can’t kill the refs for the no-call, but it was just such a blatant push off, on the ball, from a huge strong guy barreling down the lane against a perfectly-positioned defender, and it certainly is what allowed him to get a clean shot off. It was by any definition a foul, the only question is, “do you let it go in that situation?” If the argument is, guys were doing that all game (which I can’t opine on) and refs let it all go, then I think it’s ultimately OK. But I do think viewed in isolation it’s at least fair for Mount Union fans to feel upset to lose on that play (especially after the prior play which I thought while less clear did look like an and-one).
In the end both teams were awesome all year and just tough that one has to lose, both were championship caliber teams (and of course as an Eph fan I know how painful the last four seconds can be, albeit without controversy in that case). If all-American teams were released a day later I’m guessing Barber is at least one team higher. He’s like the Embiid of D3, such a dominant presence, and they sure were a totally different team in the games he missed.
