Ezekiel Bullo, XIV Summer Olympiad Gold Medal Game
The gold medal match of an Olympic Games, on home soil. It was an once in a lifetime opportunity, and yet, here is where Ezekiel Bullo found himself. On the floor, a chance to etch himself into the history books of the Olympic Games. The home crowd for the gold medal match in Istria had been as raucous a crowd as he had ever seen in his life. The stadium was almost shaking at the energy flowing through the crowd. They were engaged even before the match started. When the national anthems were sang, the singer gave up halfway through the Banijan one, and just held the microphone to the crowd, as they boomed it.
IT was a special event. And for such a special event, the crowd was always going to be super into it. And especially on the final day of the games too- it was the biggest event Banija had an athlete left in. And they had been treated to a barnstormer of a game. Back and forth, hard fought. Every possession, points had to be earned. And it had all come down to these final moments. Both rotations were short for the final, because obviously. Greater Vakolicci Haven led, 68-66, with 12 seconds left. Every single person at Caribou Arena was on their feet, as the Banijans took their final time out.
And that's when the head coach, Isaiah Lavaga, started speaking. "OK, here's our play." He said. "Secka dribbles the ball up. Pass to Bullo on the elbow. Secka will then curl to the corner, and Bullo can either take the ball to the basket, or make whatever pass he sees fit." The five Banijans nodded, and Bullo jogged back onto the court. The star point guard Amadou Secka, in his final game wearing this uniform, brought the ball up the court. He threw the ball to Bullo on the elbow. Secka ran to his right as his defender slipped. Bullo made the pass. Defenders desperately tried to scramble to the ball as Secka launched a wide open three with 5 seconds left.
The ball seemed to sail in the air forever. Bullo tried to move himself to the rim to get a rebound. The ball came, and it seemed to start going down. But it went halfway down, and came back out. It rimmed out. The GVH center grabbed the board, and Bullo fouled him. "Fuck!" He yelled as the crowd was stunned to silence. The GVH bench started jumping up and down, celebrating. This center walked down to the other end, hit both free throws, and that was it. 70-66. On home soil, Banijan basketball had lost another final.
Bullo simply sat on the bench. The crowd had all stayed where they were, stunned. Amadou Secka had walked up to Bullo. "Man, we came this close."
"We did Amadou." Bullo sat there, simply staring. This hurt just as much as Newmanistan's four point play at the end of the IBC 29 Final to stun the Lions.
"You know I'm not gonna be back." Amadou said. "I'm going back to Donnacona, but this is it in terms of the national team. Itraba is done too. It's your team now, Ezekiel."
"What?" Bullo replied.
"You're gonna be the guy now. Nabongo is dominant as well- you and Nabongo are the 1-2 punch that will push this team over the top. The pressure will be on you for IBC 30. But be ready- it will be an experience unlike one you've ever had."
