NIT Championship 2015: Score, Twitter Reaction for Stanford vs. Miami

The Stanford Cardinal jumped out to an 11-point halftime lead and held off a huge Miami (Florida) rally, prevailing in overtime 66-64 to win the NIT Championship at Madison Square Garden on Thursday.

ESPN College BBall highlighted the history that the Cardinal made with their third NIT triumph:

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NIT champs! Stanford beats Miami 66-64 to claim third NIT title. Cardinal become only sixth team to win at least 3. pic.twitter.com/KEUNP1tMdK

— ESPN College BBall (@ESPNCBB) April 3, 2015"

Senior Stanford leaders in guard Chasson Randle and center Stefan Nastic stepped up when their squad needed them the most, particularly the former.

Randle scored 13 of the Cardinal's 31 first-half points to set the tone, finishing with 25 to lead all scorers.

After Nastic fouled out toward the end of regulation with 11 points and three blocks, Randle hit two go-ahead buckets down the stretch. Then he drew a foul and hit what amounted to be the game-winning pair of free throws with 3.4 seconds left.

Stanford senior assistant athletic director Kurt Svoboda applauded Randle for his accomplishments with the Cardinal on and off the court:

Rivals.com's Anthony Drukarev couldn't help but wonder what might have been had Randle been fitter prior to the NIT:

Miami star Sheldon McClellan started slowly but picked up his play in the second half to spark Miami's comeback, notching a team-high 17 points, albeit on 5-of-16 shooting.

The following dunk, courtesy of ESPN College BBall, galvanized the Hurricanes:

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One-handed alley-oop dunk? Yes, please. Sheldon McClellan just rocked the Garden. #SCtop10 http://t.co/HLvqhr9sEm

— ESPN College BBall (@ESPNCBB) April 3, 2015"

McClellan drew enough contact to merit a foul and sank two free throws to tie the game at 59 with 16.8 seconds left in regulation, and Marcus Allen's three-pointer at the buzzer then came up short for Stanford.

Although he did put Miami up 62-61 in overtime with another momentous dunk, McClellan couldn't drain a double-clutch three as the overtime horn sounded. His senior-stud counterpart in Randle was simply too much for the Hurricanes to handle in the end.

Rich Eisen of NFL Network was getting a kick out of how his colleague, Michael Irvin, reacted to the game, as Irvin was in attendance and fervently supported his Miami side:

The Associated Press' Tim Reynolds resorted to acronyms to describe the action in the Big Apple:

ESPN Stats & Info had a silver lining for those Stanford fans still not quite content with what many perceive as a consolation prize:

Marquette head coach Steve Wojciechowski reached out to his former Duke teammate Johnny Dawkins—Stanford's head coach—to congratulate him on the win:

NBA player Landry Fields was excited that his Cardinal took home the championship:

Losing both Randle and Nastic to graduation will be tough for the Cardinal to account for in the near future. It's a testament to the job Dawkins has done that his players continued to fight despite falling short of expectations after last year's run to the Sweet 16.

The Hurricanes trailed by double digits in their previous contest and managed to come back versus Temple. They couldn't quite pull off the trick this time around. It was nevertheless a valiant effort by Miami in playing without two starters in Tonye Jekiri and Angel Rodriguez, who are among the team's top three scorers.

Coach Jim Larranaga has managed to spin his program in a positive direction and figures to have the Hurricanes in contention for the NCAA tournament next season.