By Chris Granozio
With D2 basketball set to resume after the holiday break, I found myself filling the eight-day void by sifting through some of my old articles the past coule of days when I landed on one of my favorites. It's from an old publication called College Hoops Illustrated, that glossy insert that often accompanied programs in arenas across the country. About a decade ago, I was commissioed to write monthly columns on various topics. One month it would be a player who was authoring some notable achievement. Another month might necessitate a profile of a coach approaching a career milestone. Other times, it would be commemorating a particularly noteworthy game. Regular readers of Around the Rim have no doubt seen my occasional references to the greatest game I ever witnessed: the 2007 D2 National Championship Game. Well, having covered that entire Elite-8 in Springfield some 15+ years ago, I was privileged to have a front-row seat. At the risk of sounding immodest, it remains one of the pieces of which I'm most proud, and I share it with you felow basketball junkies - unedited - in the hopes that some of the magic from that March afternoon in the "Birthplace of Basketball" will jump off the screen and grip you as it did me. Enjoy:
It stands as the most scintillating comeback in the history of Division II college basketball. And given the magnitude of the moment, it may have no peer.
On March 24, 2007, Barton College of North Carolina rallied to stun undefeated Winona State (MN) in the national championship game at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, Mass. It was the third do-or-die game in four days for the Bulldogs, and all three ended the same way, with the ball in the trusty hands of a little guard with a giant heart and unrelenting faith.
“Anthony Atkinson was 5-8, 5-9 and 170 pounds soaking wet,” Barton coach Ron Lievense says in describing the greatest player in program history. “He was one of the most unselfish point guards around, but if the team needed it, he could take over a game.”
And that’s exactly what the native of Wilson, NC did all week vs. much taller and more athletic teams at the Elite-8, knocking down the game-winning, NBA-range 3-pointer at the buzzer of the quarterfinal vs. Grand Valley State (Barton was down one at the time) and then snatching a loose ball and sinking the winning free throw with 1.5 seconds left in the semifinal vs. Cal State-San Bernardino less than 24 hours later. That landed his tiny school with an enrollment under 2,000 a berth in its first-ever national championship game.
But this would be no run-of-the-mill title tilt. There was plenty of back story, beginning with the fact that Winona State, the defending national champion, had rallied to oust Barton in overtime just a year earlier in the national quarterfinals. And oh, by the way, the loaded Warriors were only riding the longest winning streak in the history of Division II – 57 games – and were one step away from repeating as kings of the sport.
Atkinson, the All-American who played all 125 minutes in Springfield that fateful week, confessed that the previous year’s heartbreaker had served as motivation for the entire season.
“At the beginning of the year, coach drew a map of a mountain,” Atkinson recalled. “And the bottom was the loss to Winona State. After every win, we moved up… now Winona was at the top of the mountain.”
But how to ascend that obstacle and smell that rarified air of victory on the final day? As usual, the Bulldogs – who played nine overtime games during the course of the season (and won them all - an NCAA record) - would not take the easy path; instead relishing the role of David versus Goliath.
“To come back and play them again,” Lievense admitted, was a great opportunity for our guys to redeem ourselves.”
However, Redemption seemed to give way to repetition by late in the initial 20 minutes as Winona State, powered by National Player of the Year John Smith inside and one of the nation’s finest wing players in Zack Malvik, constructed a 14-point lead and threatened to run away. The resilient Bulldogs fought back within 41-31 by intermission but still couldn’t seem to get over the hump throughout the second half.
Trailing 74-67 after a Malvik free throw with 45 seconds left, everyone watching – including a national TV audience – was secure in the outcome.
“We saw the NCAA representatives take the boxes of awards to the other side,” Lievense recalls. “The security guards thanked us and moved to the other bench.”
Someone forgot to tell Anthony Atkinson, who channeled his inner Reggie Miller.
Over the final 39 seconds, the team’s spiritual leader, who reads the Bible every morning and prayed with his team before each game, singlehandedly outscored the Warriors 10-1, including a tough reverse layup to tie with 7.6 seconds left and a Hollywood-esque breakaway lay-up that left his fingertips with one-tenth of a second remaining, lifting the Bulldogs to a miraculous, 77-75 triumph.
“I had an angle on the clock,” Atkinson said. “It was at 2.1, which was plenty of time for me to get close to the basket, and it went in…. It’s never over. They (Winona State) were celebrating. We were contemplating our next move. I’m overwhelmed with joy.”
So much joy, in fact, he ran around the circumference of the court with his euphoric teammates and fans following like a fiery rocket tail. One of the people he blew past was then-Connecticut Huskies head coach Jim Calhoun, who stood with his mouth agape before exclaiming “Wow.” The Hall of Famer, who had won two of his three NCAA Division I Tournaments to that point, was rendered speechless. When Ian Eagle was through calling the final seconds for CBS, he threw it back to the studio, where Tim Brando and his sidekicks sat in stunned disbelief, eventually stating with accuracy that the upcoming DI regional championship games could not possibly hold a candle to what they had just witnessed.
To this day, Lievense still marvels at Atkinson’s pitch-perfect instincts.
“He had the presence of mind not to put up a long shot,” the coach remembers. “When he got the ball (off a steal by guard Bobby Buffaloe), he looked straight up at the clock. How about that? How many guards would do what he did?”
When the buzzer had sounded, the opposite bench looked funereal. “It all happened so fast,” Winona State junior center John Smith, the national Player of the Year, said afterward. “There were definitely mistakes made on our part… but all good things come to an end.”
“If there’s any one guy we’d like to see win this thing, it would be him,” said Winona State coach Mike Leaf. “They made all the plays down the stretch.”
There was a reason for Leaf’s bouquet in Barton’s direction. In another stunning subplot, Coach Lievense – a native Minnesotan – had actually served as a graduate assistant at Winona State while working on his Master’s Degree over a decade earlier. He had been acquainted with Leaf just prior to both men ascending to their respective head coaching positions.
The Warriors successfully recaptured their crown the following season, defeating Augusta State, earning some measure of atonement for “the one that got away.”
The unforgettable 2007 title game has taken on a life of its own. More than five years later, the YouTube video of the final 45 seconds (treat yourself by punching in Barton-Winona State) has drawn hundreds of thousands of views, the game was nominated for a “Greatest Finishes” ESPY Award, and there’s even talk about a movie screenplay in the works.
“It brought a sense of pride back to our community which was needed very badly,” according to Atkinson.
His former coach agrees. “That game made a huge impact on our lives. People don’t realize how small we are. We’re not funded like other schools. We knew we were out-talented, but we had great passion. Gold refines through fire to become something beautiful.”
The man nicknamed “Ant” parlayed his superhero performances that unforgettable week into a job with the Harlem Globetrotters, playing the game he loves and traveling all over the world doing so.
"I get to create positive memories in the lives of people everywhere, and I get paid to do it,” Atkinson says. “We are ambassadors of good will. Not only do we perform on the court, but we are very active off the floor as well. We visit hospitals, schools and stay very involved in many community and charity functions. I thank God every day for this great opportunity he blessed me with, and I will be forever grateful being a part of this great organization!”
Lievense initially recruited Atkinson out of the local high school but settled for his transfer two years later after Division I Campbell University proved to be the wrong fit for the playmaker. The winningest coach in Barton history says it is the Trotters who are the winners in the latest partnership.
“Oh, how he cares for people,” the coach boasts of Atkinson in a fatherly manner. “He’s happiest making an impact in people’s lives. He’s such a great speaker, and kids relate to him in a special way.”
Atkinson, who averaged nearly 28 points in his final three collegiate games, admits he still gets goose bumps every time he thinks about that miraculous final. “It is a moment that I worked so hard for all of my life, a moment my teammates and I strived for and it's something I will never forget.”
Anyone who has seen it never will either.
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Regional play picks up with nine games on Thursday, five of which are CACC clashes. As the calendar flips to 2023, the action continues to heat up as we strap ourselves in for the final two months of the regular season and ensuing playoffs. Next week, we'll recap the highlights of a busy week and take a closer look at the races in all three conferences. Until then, stay safe and Happy Hooping to All!
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