Sheamus Dalton, a Sports Editor
for the Voice, can be reached

If you didn’t watch it, you missed the best national championship game of all time. The NCAA men’s basketball championship game between North Carolina and Villanova on Monday was hands down the best college basketball game I have ever watched. The swing of momentum and emotions in the last 13.5 seconds was unprecedented. It was 13.5 seconds that neither I nor anyone who watched it will soon forget.

After the game ended, it took me a few minutes to process what I had experienced. I had just watched North Carolina’s Marcus Paige hit a double-clutch shot to tie the game at 74 that literally made me say, “What are you thin … I can’t believe that went in!”

That was enough emotion to leave me shell-shocked. But then, after a timeout and chaotic a sprint down the court, Villanova’s Kris Jenkins rattle in a deep three at the buzzer to win. Everyone in the room watching the game with me jumped up immediately, knocking over some sodas, but I stayed glued to my seat. I suppose my brain could not handle the concept of a game ending in that fashion.

By now, I have had some time to process, decompress, watch and read about the game. It is definitely the best national championship game I have ever watched.

After thinking about the game and how it ended, I began to fixate on the last two shots. While they were both undoubtedly game-winning caliber shots, only Jenkins’ mattered in the end. I find this conclusion to be completely unfair.

I wonder, based on the final two shots, who really deserved to win the game? Villanova will get the trophy, but do they deserve it? Let’s think about it.

Both Jenkins and Paige made incredible shots. No question there. Paige’s was unbelievably athletic, and I doubted it all the way until the ball splashed through the net. It appeared that he thought he might be fouled as he went up and, after he wasn’t fouled, simply forced up a shot. It was a beautiful force.

Jenkins’ shot was different but, nevertheless, sublime. It wasn’t as athletic, but considering the type of player Jenkins is, that makes sense. What made it incredible was that it was from deep. Real deep. He was several feet beyond the arc and had two North Carolina players in his face as he released. I bet even Steph Curry was impressed (Actually, he’s probably too narcissitic to be impressed).

There is no solid reason to say one shot was better than the other when we consider how the shots happened. However, we must also consider why the shots happened. Paige took his shot with Carolina down three. He had to make his shot to keep his team in the game. Jenkins took his shot to win. A miss from Paige would have led to a rebound that would have eaten up the six seconds that remained on the game clock. A miss from Jenkins would have sent the game to overtime.

This tips the scale in North Carolina’s direction. Paige took his shot out of necessity; Jenkins took his because he had the opportunity to. If we are thinking about which shot deserved to win based on the circumstances, Paige edges Jenkins.

There is much, much more to add to a debate over who deserved to win on Monday. In 700 words, I have only compared the final two shots. To truly debate, you would have to add in the fact that North Carolina is a college basketball powerhouse while Villanova hadn’t won a championship since 1985. Advantage, Villanova. But don’t forget that throughout the course of the game and especially at the end, the officials were hounding North Carolina while letting some Villanova fouls slide. I’m not saying there was any sort of corruption, but Carolina kept themselves in the game despite poor officiating. Advantage, North Carolina?

This sort of debate is ludicrous. The important fact to remember is that we all witnessed a game that was by all regards one of the best (if not the best) championship game of all time. I have written this article for my own pleasure and hopefully to spark a debate amongst any two sports fans who happen to read it together. Enjoy.