I was at the Akron game those many years ago...then on to the MAC tournament in Cleveland.  As I remember, Ohio actually had a legit chance to upset Kent in the semis...wasn't there some sort of blown call regarding Este or someone else going out of bounds?? 

I believe the call you're referring to was towards the end of the game, OU was down and O'Shea had already gone to the fullcourt press (aside: how crazy is it that these guys were playing 35+ a game and then when they were down they could press, do it well, and usually get back in the games? it's exactly what got them back in it vs Miami down like 10 with 2 minutes left the day prior. I still remember Esterkamp jumping what seemed like about 10 feet in the air to grab an errant Redhawk pass at midcourt in that game... Anyways I digress).

At this point I think we were down 2 or 3, I'm pretty sure it was one possession, and Kent was inbounding the ball after we had just scored. There was some sort of a deflection of the Kent inbounds pass, Este got his hands on it on the baseline under our own hoop, running full speed, and as he fell out of bounds clear slammed it off a Kent player's foot (I think it was Antonio Gates). The ref ( I think it was Jerry Sauder) completely missed the call and called out of bounds on OU. None of the other refs had a view of it, so Kent got it, inbounded it, got it across center court and they either scored, or we had to foul and they scored and that was that.

It's a shame. Hunter would have owned Kaman in that championship game.

HeHate, I am amazed at your memory.  Wow.  I remember we were incensed in the OU section.  Ready to charge out on the floor, actually. 

I'm glad you're attributing the blown call to Mr. Clean.  If we can't remember who the ref was who blew a call, it's best to just say Jerry Sauder did it. 

That was Love last week.  Where did he sit last night?

I was offered four of the seats under the basket last night.  It was a really nice gesture by the AD and OBC staff.  We did our best to stay active and engaged in the game.  My 9 year old leaned over to me after Devo threw down a dunk right in front of his seat and said, "Dad, this might be the best day of my life.  This is awesome."   I like the seats and would be willing to pay extra for them one or times a year.