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An Indiana cheerleader saved the day during a recent NCAA basketball game. The ball was stuck on top of the backboard, between the board and the shot clock. Neither the players nor the referee were able to save the ball. Two Hoosiers cheerleaders, Nathan and Cassidy Cerny combined their efforts to retrieve it.
The ball got stuck during the second half of Thursday’s game between Indiana and St Mary’s College. Indiana lost 82-53.
The game's highlight turned out to be an eventful attempt by many to retrieve the ball. A game official tried to get the ball down by standing on the chair and moving a mop towards it, but it was unsuccessful.
Even the tallest players on the court failed to recoup the ball. The commentators and crowd cheered for the cheerleading squad to step in and come into action.
Cerny was lifted into the air as her feet were in Paris’ palms. She successfully grabbed the ball. The crowd burst into excitement. TBS play-by-player Andre Catalon said:
“What a play! The cheerleader saves the day! And that is her one shining moment! This place is on its feet!”
The internet reacts to Hoosiers cheerleader’s “one shining moment”
Netizens took to Twitter exclaiming how impressed they were with the pair who saved the day. Many called Cassidy Cerny a “legend” and the real star of the basketball game. A few tweets read:
Andy Katz of March Madness 365 interviewed the pair who retrieved the ball. When the two were asked what motivated them to act, Cerny said:
“Well at one point they were looking at us. We were look like maybe they should throw us up this time, maybe put us up in there. But then it actually happened, I didn't think it was going to happen though!”
Paris added:
“They had the chair out there but they couldn't put the player on the chair. And I was like 'we lift them up all the time so why not try that?”
Following St Mary’s victory, the team will take on UCLA on Saturday.
