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Clock malfunction causes controversy in Georgia-Texas A&M game (Video)

By Gerald Bourguet

Jan 21, 2017; College Station, TX, USA; Georgia Bulldogs players walk off the court after losing 63-62 against the Texas A&M Aggies at Reed Arena. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 21, 2017; College Station, TX, USA; Georgia Bulldogs players walk off the court after losing 63-62 against the Texas A&M Aggies at Reed Arena. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports /
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With the Georgia Bulldogs trailing by one late against Texas A&M Saturday, a clock malfunction may have robbed them of their chance to win the game.

You always hate to see a competitive game decided by a clock malfunction, but that’s exactly what happened in the Georgia Bulldogs’ 63-62 loss to Texas A&M on Saturday.

With the Aggies up one, Georgia had possession with under 10 seconds to play. The Bulldogs were biding their time for the final shot to win the game, but there was just one problem: The clock stopped at 5.6 seconds.

Georgia kept right on playing, unaware of the snafu. They got a look at the basket and drew a foul, but the officials finally noticed the clock had stopped moving and went to the monitors to see how much time needed to be taken off. It was determined that more than 5.6 seconds had elapsed after the clock froze, handing Texas A&M the win by default.

Obviously this is the least climactic way you could end a college basketball game, and it’s a pity no one caught the error sooner so the Bulldogs could get another chance.

With the clock frozen at 5.6 seconds, it would’ve been impossible for the offense to know how much time it still had to get a last-second shot off, robbing the kids of the opportunity to decide the game themselves. In the heat of the moment, most people’s internal clocks just aren’t good enough to figure out how much time is left, especially if you didn’t notice the clock freeze at 5.6 right away.

No one’s saying the Aggies didn’t deserve to win, because they had put themselves in pretty decent position with about 10 seconds and one stop separating them from the victory.

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But it would’ve been nice to let that final possession play out with a functioning clock, or at least let them miss the buzzer by their own accord, rather than have it ruled that the play should’ve already been dead after the fact. The Bulldogs have no one to blame but themselves since they had a 10-point lead at the break, but what a crummy way to finish a game.