Jamestown’s Khalil Gracey hit a leaning jumper as time expired to send the Jackals to a 96-94 win over the Sudbury Five in Game 3 of a best-of-five Basketball Super League semifinal series Wednesday night at Jamestown Community College’s Physical Education Complex.

“That wasn’t what we drew up, but it happened,” said Jamestown head coach Raheem “Radio” Singleton. “The basketball gods shined in our favor tonight and we were able to get the win.”

Devante Jamison stood at the top of the arc with a little over 26 seconds remaining and dribbled the game clock down to inside 5 seconds before his wild lay-in attempt was tipped to a waiting Gracey in the corner. Gracey then pumpfaked before getting by his defender and shooting a leaner that found the bottom of the net as time expired that set off a celebration that included members of the JCC baseball team joining the Jackals underneath the basket.

“God is good. Tyson Pickett tipped the ball out to me just trying to get us another shot. It somehow landed in my hands and I was ready to knock it down,” Gracey said. “I wanted to get a foul, but I stay ready and try to make my shots at the same time.”

Jamestown players celebrate defeating Sudbury 96-94 in Game 3 of Basketball Super League semifinal action at The Physical Education Complex at Jamestown Community College on Wednesday. Photo courtesy of Shelly Phillips

As the celebration continued, Sudbury head coach Logan Stutz questioned why a violation wasn’t called because it appeared that Jamison’s attempt never hit the rim as the shot clock expired. The referees held a conference, and after checking with the scorer’s table, determined that the ball did hit the rim, which signaled a reset, and Gracey’s basket was deemed good.

“I know the ball hit the rim and I knew the clock was 2 seconds slower than the shot clock. Once the ball hit the rim, I knew I had those 2 seconds to get it up,” Gracey said. “Once it appeared in my hands, it was just knocking it down.”

It was a wild ending to a wild game that featured five ties and 12 lead changes with Sudbury leading by as many as 14 in the first quarter and Jamestown leading by as many as 10 with 3:49 remaining in the game.

“Nerves, rushing, not being locked in on the catch … they got us to take some bad ones,” Singleton said about the Jackals’ first quarter during which they shot 6 of 24 from the field. “It’s that little stuff.”

The Jackals led by as many as nine with 1:40 left in the game after Tyshon Pickett hit one of two free throws. But Sudbury’s JD Miller hit his fourth 3-pointer of the game with 1:12 remaining to pull the Five within six at 94-88. After a quick empty possession for Jamestown, Sudbury’s Diego Bernard hit a 3-pointer of his own to make it 94-91 with 55.8 seconds left.

The Jackals quickly turned the ball over when they stepped on the end line on the ensuing inbounds pass and Bernard turned that into a lay-in just over 2 seconds later to make it a one-point game with 53.2 seconds left.

“We’ve got to make smarter plays. We could’ve pulled it out and played the foul game, made them have to get some stops,” Singleton said. “I think we got a little too thirsty for points at the end. We ended up having to get a buzzer beater to win.”

After another Jamestown turnover — its ninth of the game — Miller made one of two free throws to tie the game at 94-all.

That set up the controversial ending sequence, which saw the Jackals escape with a 2-1 series lead. Game 4 is back at JCC on Friday night.

“Khalil is a guy who was playing on another team to start the season. He can score. We didn’t bring him in just to fit in, we want him to still be him and be able to flourish,” Singleton said of Gracey, who didn’t join the Jackals until March 16. “The guys accepted him and brought him in. The biggest thing for him is feeling that embrace and being able to be himself.”

“You just have to stay ready in your role. … Sometimes my role is to score more, sometimes it’s to pass more, sometimes it’s to rebound, sometimes it’s to cheer people on,” Gracey said. “I just stay ready and follow my role on any given night.”

Pickett led the Jackals with 20 points and six rebounds; Jamison had 16 points and a team-high six steals; Derrick Colter had 15 points; and Emmett Duvall had 12 points.

Miller paced the Five with 23 points and 13 rebounds, while Bernard and Jermaine Haley each had 19 points.

“The first game, we shocked them. … The second game, we didn’t come out to compete. … Tonight, our thing was to try and keep them under 100,” Singleton said. “They like to score the basketball and they put their emphasis on trading buckets. If we keep the game close and it’s an execution game, I don’t think we’ll be too worried.”

The Five will have to win Friday to send the series back to Sudbury Community Arena for a deciding Game 5, which would be Sunday at 4 p.m. They might have to do it without the league’s leading scorer, Ja’myrin Jackson, who did not play Wednesday night, and the league’s leading 3-pointer shooter Charlie Marquardt, who was limited to just 22 minutes Wednesday after appearing to suffer an injury.

“We’re not making that drive again,” Gracey joked, “that drive is too long.”

“We want to win them all,” Singleton added. ” … Every game is an opportunity to win and that’s what we’re going to try to do.”

SUDBURY (94)

Bernard 7-10 3-4 19, Haley 6-9 6-7 19, Notice 0-5 3-4 3, Miller 8-18 3-4 23, Marquardt 1-4 0-0 3, Simmons 5-9 4-5 16, Djonkam 1-2 0-0 2, Billinger 1-6 1-4 3, Olden 0-2 0-0 0, Hurt 2-3 0-0 6. Totals 31-68 20-28 94.

JAMESTOWN (96)

Beckford 3-5 2-4 8, Colter 5-15 1-1 15, Duvall 5-8 2-6 12, Collier 1-2 0-0 2, Pickett 8-11 4-7 20, Price 3-9 0-0 9, Gracey 2-4 3-4 7, Stroud 1-7 2-2 5, Jamison 4-11 8-9 16, Hinson 1-3 0-0 2, Mulamba 0-0 0-0 0, Davis 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 33-77 22-33 96.

Sudbury 27 23 21 23 — 94

Jamestown 15 26 29 26 — 96

3-point goals–Sudbury 12-33 (Bernard 2-3, Haley 1-2, Notice 0-2, Miller 4-10, Marquardt 1-3, Simmons 2-6, Billinger 0-3, Olden 0-2, Hurt 2-2), Jamestown 8-25 (Beckford 0-1, Colter 4-8, Collier 0-1, Price 3-5, Stroud 1-6, Jamison 0-2, Hinson 0-1, Davis 0-1). Total rebounds–Sudbury 49 (Miller 13), Jamestown 32 (Pickett 6). Assists–Sudbury 16 (Miller 5), Jamestown 17 (Jamison 4). Total fouls–Sudbury 22, Jamestown 23.