NCAA Scores 2012: Reaction to UNC-Asheville's Close Loss to Syracuse

Syracuse survived a huge scare, narrowly escaping a valiant effort from UNC-Asheville in a game that will go down as one of the biggest shams in NCAA tournament history.

UNC-Asheville fell victim to a series of questionable calls that ultimately led to a loss for the No. 16 seed. The chorus of boos the officials received to close out the game was well deserved, as a combo of blown and ticky-tack calls crippled UNC-Asheville.

A lane violation call and a ball that was clearly out of bounds off of Syracuse that the refs blatantly missed doomed UNC-Asheville. This grave injustice has caused Twitter to erupt.

Not every call down the stretch was blatantly wrong, but many that were in the air went against UNC-Asheville. ESPN's Matthew Berry weighs in.

"

Calls for Cuse easily could have gone other way.Happy to escape. Great game by UNC-Asheville.

— Matthew Berry (@MatthewBerryTMR) March 15, 2012"

Say what you will about the lane violation, but it's impossible to argue with the absurd out-of-bounds call that proved so costly to the Bulldogs. As USA Today's Nicole Auerbach indicates, it's a call that left even the NCAA coordinator of officiating scratching his head.

"

NCAA coordinator of officiating on the Syracuse out of bounds call: "He didn't get it right."

— Nicole Auerbach (@nicoleauerbach) March 15, 2012"

Refs have a difficult job and they are criticized far too often, but it's well deserved here. The Indianapolis Star's Bob Kravitz sums it up perfectly:

"

I rarely, rarely say anything about officiating, but that stuff at the end of the Syracuse-Asheville game was ridiculous.

— BobKravitz (@bkravitz) March 15, 2012"

Whether or not you believe the latter part of Bill Walton parody Twitter Not Bill Walton's tweet, it's hard to get away from his first statement.

"

UNC Asheville/Syracuse. Old men just robbed hard working, honest people of their dreams. Somewhere, Mitt Romney is smiling.

— The Bill Walton Trip (@NotBillWalton) March 15, 2012"

ESPN's Cindy Brunson says what everyone is thinking. Syracuse going down in the Round of 64 would cripple brackets worldwide. Thanks to the officials, disaster averted.

"

Welp #Syracuse survives v #UNC-Asheville. Curious about what those 3 officials brackets look like.

— Cindy Brunson (@ESPNCindyB) March 15, 2012"

David Letterman funny man Eric Stangel takes a jab at Fab Melo, whose ineligibility played a huge role in this near scare.

"

Fab Melo's tutor apparently ref-ing today's game... #Syracuse

— Eric Stangel (@EricStangel) March 15, 2012"