ST. LOUIS — There are great endings to a game, and then there’s what Terrence Hargrove Junior did against Louisiana Tech on Saturday night. The East St. Louis native put the Billikens on his back, and delivered one of the most dominating seconds we’ve ever seen in St. Louis sports.
Let's set the scene.
SLU is in danger of dropping a game they had control of pretty much the whole way. The Billikens are down by six points with just 30 seconds left. And then it turned into "TJ time".
Hargrove flew into the lane for a huge dunk, plus the foul. He then sank the free throw to make it a three-point game.
After Louisiana Tech hit a free throw on the other end, Hargrove converted a lay-up to cut the lead to two.
Hargrove went back to work on the other end, and hit a three with seven seconds left to tie the game at 72.
SLU was then called for a foul, and Louisiana Tech hit two free throws to make it a 74-72 game with Tech up and five seconds left.
Hargrove had one more trick up his sleeve. He got into range, pulled up from distance and sank a game-winning three pointer to send SLU home with the 75-74 victory.
The final tally was 11 points in the last 28 seconds to win the game. That is Reggie Miller against the Knicks (8 points in 9 seconds) or Tracy McGrady against the Spurs (13 points in 35 seconds) territory.
“My brother came up to me and said that’s some Tracy McGrady type deal, " Hargrove said.
But not even Hargrove knew the last one was going in for sure.
“No. It came off good, but I was leaning forward… And when I saw it go in… I just walked off like, ‘What did I just do’? But I just give thanks to God," Hargrove said. “It’s a dream come true. I always dreamed of hitting a game-winning shot one day. That was my first-ever game winner. I’ve hit big shots, but never a game-winner. That moment and feeling is different. It’s surreal. It felt so good. All the energy on me, and it just felt like this is what I work so hard for, this is what I put extra work in for. Times and moments like these.”
And you know Hargrove's biggest fan was the most excited of all.
"Amazing, Amazing and it feels good! I want him to live this moment and he's living it," Hargrove's mom, Tracy, said after the game.
“That’s my heart. Without her I wouldn’t be where I am today. That’s my number one lady," Hargrove said of his mom. "We’ve been through the storm together. We’ve been through the good times and hard times. She’s always gave it 110% no matter what we did. Just to see that smile on her face on Twitter after the game made me smile. Because all I want to do is make her proud.”