"Like a sports movie": NBL journeyman on that clutch moment

NBL journeyman Damon Lowery had one of the most clutch moments in the history of Aussie hoops.

With 15.4 seconds on the clock, the Wollongong Hawks trailed the Adelaide 36ers 108-106 in Game 3 of their 2000-01 Playoff Series.

The Hawks needed a stop with the 36ers having possession. They got that with a missed layup with six seconds remaining.

The ball then made its way to Lowery’s hands on the three-point line with 1.0 exactly left on the shot clock. The American let it fly, and it missed… but the referee called a foul.

Now sent to the line with no time remaining on the clock, the equation was simple. Make three free throws, and you’re through to the Grand Final.

Lowery went on to make those three free throws, but not without enough suspense to write a sports movie.

He reflected on the biggest moment of his career on This is Your Journey – thanks to Tobin Brothers.

“To this day Darnell (Mee) swears he didn’t touch me,” Lowery said.

“I’m full of adrenaline, I was feeling good about myself, and I thought, ‘Man everyone is watching, this is going to be great, all I’ve got to do is make all three!’.

“I shoot the first one and as soon as I let it go, I knew it was short, but it bounced in. That tied it up.

“Then I made the next one, but that bounced around even more… then I looked at my wife… and as soon as the third one left my hand, I thought, ‘That’s the worst of all of them’.

“But it bounced, bounced and bounced… it was like a sports movie… when it swished through, I just fell to my knees and thought, ‘The Hawks are through to the Grand Final!’. We had never been to the Grand Final.

“Then we took care of the Crocs in the Grand Final.”

Wollongong would go on to win the NBL championship 2-1 over the Townsville Crocodiles. Lowery averaged 14.6 points across the playoffs in that season.

Watch his famous moment below and listen to the full chat with Sam Edmund!