OLATHE —
It all came down to a last-second three-point shot thrown up by senior Heath Baird from half court.
After hitting the back iron and coming back out, the Wildcats finished their season with a 66-63 loss to MidAmerica Nazarene University.
Reverse one minute.
After matching MidAmerica basket for basket during the last three minutes of regulation, Baird charged the lane, spun and laid one up, drawing the foul.
63-62, Baker.
With the clock winding down, Heart of America Athletic Conference first team All Conference player Cal Kiburz twisted around the lane to lay one in with 30 seconds on the clock.
64-63, MidAmerica.
Battling back and forth, the Wildcats put the ball in third team All Conference player Malcolm Greer’s hands.
Dribbling to the baseline, Greer fumbled the ball, but was fortunate to throw it off a MidAmerica player.
Three seconds left, Baker’s ball under their basket.
After close to five seconds, junior Brock Entner connected to Baird around the three-point line. Driving to the lane, an unexpected whistle blew and Baird was called for double dribbling.
With 1.4 seconds left, and a foul from senior Nick Iversen, Brenton Bell for MidAmerica hit both shots from the charity stripe.
Next came a prayer from Baird at half court, which was almost answered when the ball hit iron and the buzzer blew for the biggest heartbreak of the season.
The Wildcats finished their season 7-13 in the conference and 9-22 overall.