Bonacum’s Half-Court Shot Is More of the Same
Junior forward Thomas Bonacum’s half-court buzzer-beater that gave Ramapo the NJAC championship on Friday night was nothing short of exciting. But for Bonacum’s teammates and coaches, it wasn’t all that surprising.
“We practice that every day at practice,” junior forward Christopher Moseley said after the 67–64 victory over New Jersey City. “End of practice, middle of practice, any downtime, me and him, we go back and forth, half-court shots, all the time.”
Usually, those shots go in. “It’s amazing how many times they make it,” head coach Chuck McBreen said.
So Bonacum was ready to shoot from midcourt on Friday. Not that that was the plan.
Ramapo’s final shot was supposed to be a more manageable three-pointer, McBreen said. The Roadrunners ran a play similar to Nova, the Villanova play that led to a buzzer-beating three-pointer in the 2016 NCAA Division I championship game. Like in that play, the inbounder took the shot. Bonacum just didn’t get as far up the court as Villanova’s Kris Jenkins did for his game-winner.
It didn’t matter. “He’s the half-court champion,” Moseley said. “He showed that.”
