The men's final of 3X3 basketball in the 38th National Games in Uttarakhand witnessed one of the most outrageous meltdowns in sport, regardless of the level of competition. Kerala squandered eight match points to settle for silver from the cusps of securing the gold medal.

It was like a team needing one run to win a cricket match with a handful of wickets in hand but getting bowled out before they could secure the simplest of victories.

Kerala squandered eight match points to settle for silver from the cusps of securing the gold medal

What is 3X3 basketball?
Three-on-three is a half-court version of basketball featuring three players per side as opposed to five in a traditional basketball game. The scoring system is also different. A three-pointer in regular basketball fetches two points in 3X3, while the usual 2-point field goals count for 1 point.

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A 3X3 game lasts 10 minutes, and the first side to score 21 points is declared the winner. In the event of a tie, five minutes of extra time are played, and the first side to score 2 points wins.

Here's what happened
Kerala, comprising Vaisakh Manoj, Antony Johnson, Sejin Mathew and Sarath A S, made a steady start. Sejin hit the game's first two-pointer to make it 10-6. From there, Kerala stepped on the accelerator and led by 8 points at the halfway stage (5 minutes).

MP team comprising Brijesh Tiwari, Rakesh Sharma, Surya Singh and Tushal Singh began to lose the grip on the game as Antony hit another 2 to get Kerala to 16-7. With 4 minutes left, Kerala led 16-8.  

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Sejin took a smart timeout at 17-11 and with three minutes left, Kerala led 19-11. And 30 seconds later, Kerala got to the first match point at 20-12.

At that point, the game was merely a formality; Kerala just had to find a simple basket to claim a deserving gold. But then they had the most dramatic meltdown, missing attempt after attempt, including four layups. The same time, MP kept shooting at will, hitting consecutive two-pointers to reach 20-18 with just 13 second left. Tiwari hit a buzzer-beater two to level the tie to the utter disbelief of the spectators.

Then, in extra time, with Kerala players crestfallen, MP scored twice to complete a truly remarkable comeback. What they achieved should definitely be part of the Madhya Pradesh folklore.

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