Basketball fan cheated out of $10,000 for half-court shot? No [Video]

A basketball fan made a desperation half-court shot during a halftime contest at West Chester University in Pennsylvania this weekend and the crowd went wild, thinking he’d just won $10,000.

Freshman Jack Lavery, 18, had 25 seconds to make a layup, free throw, three-pointer and half-court shot. Unfortunately, the athletic director said the rules stipulate that he had to make them on consecutive shots, although a TV station tracked down a copy of the rules and they simply say you only get one shot from half court.

As you can see from the video above, Lavery made three shots in a row -- layup, free throw and three-pointer -- and then missed his first half-court attempt. He then ran after the ball thinking he had time to get off one more shot. He raced back to half court and while running away from the basket, he turned and fired a one-handed heave that banks through the basket.

Lavery, like everyone else, wasn’t aware of the rule. “I was kind of let down a little bit like, ‘Wow you’re trying to pull that on me right now.’ I wasn’t even aware of that,” he told a reporter from WPVI-TV in Philadelphia of the one half-court shot rule.

A copy of the contest form that Lavery filled out, though, clearly states:

“I shall have as many opportunities as necessary at each of the first three (3) locations to make a shot; however, no more than ONE (1) attempt may be made at the HALF COURT shot, provided that there is still time left on the shot clock.”