Here lies the 53-game home winning streak of the MSU men’s basketball team at Breslin Center. Thanks for the memories - Nov. 13, 1998 to Jan. 12, 2002.

The score, 64-63, will be burned into my conscious until the day I leave this earth. I only missed five or six games during the streak, but I never experienced a loss at home until Saturday.

I have seen games come down to the wire before, and the Spartans always seemed to come up with that little something extra to pull out the win (MSU vs. Indiana 1999-2000 and MSU vs. Wisconsin 2000-2001 are two examples that come to mind). Morris Peterson and Charlie Bell both made clutch shots to lead the Spartans to victory in those respective games.

On Saturday, I felt deep down inside that the Spartans would pull the game off and continue their streak. When Freddie Owens made the layup to put the Wisconsin Badgers up 64-62 with fewer than 20 seconds left, I was still confident.

As the Spartans came down the floor and set up the play I had a feeling they would execute and knock down the shot, and send the game into an extra frame.

When freshman forward Alan Anderson was fouled with 8.1 seconds left, I was still confident.

As he calmly stepped to the line I could see the certainty on his face from my third-row seat right under the basket he was shooting at. I was certain he would convert both shots and give the team the opportunity to keep the game going.

After knocking down the first shot, I eagerly awaited the next. As it left his fingers I thought it looked good.

Clank!

Just as I put my head down in defeat, the long arms of Aloysius Anagonye stretched out and grabbed the ball. He wisely called timeout. The Spartans still had a chance.

By now my confidence was turning into anxiety and I could hardly stand to watch. The crowd was eerily silent, but a miracle could still happen.

Marcus Taylor seemed like the man who would get the ball - and sure enough he did. But as he shot the off-balanced leaner and the ball hit the rim and bounced out of bounds, I realized something great had just come to an end.

Almost four years have passed since the Spartans last lost a game at the friendly confines of Breslin. Four years. In that time I went from a pimply-faced, Saturday-night-walking-party-patroller to a bar-hopping, semimature senior with a few hairs on my chest.

Four years. Think about it. During that time there’s been a presidential sex scandal. A new millennium came and went and who could forget the controversial 2000 presidential election?

Just as I was accepting defeat and beginning to move on, in what seemed like slow motion, I sneaked a look at the scoreboard. Sure enough it read 64-63. But I also noticed .02 seconds were left on the clock.

I immediately thought, “Hey, we still have a chance.”

When the players returned to the court, I knew coach Izzo had drawn up the perfect play; all that was needed was the execution.

Anderson was in-bounding the ball, but my eyes flashed to Kelvin Torbert, who was standing at the top of the key. I knew it - the ball was going to him.

Seconds later, the ball was thrown right where it needed to be and Torbert timed his jump perfectly and put the ball into the goal. Final score 65-64, Spartans.

After a brief second of disbelief, pandemonium broke lose throughout the crowd. Several Izzone members rushed the court to celebrate with the team. The streak was now at 54.

However, the adulation instantly stopped and reality set in. The referees were reviewing the play. It was inevitable the play would be overturned, because it was clear Torbert did possess and shoot the ball.

Like a defendant awaiting the jury’s decision, crowd members whispered and looked around to the people standing next to them.

No good.

Two-tenths of a second was all that was needed to erase an incredible streak. In the four years of watching college basketball live, I will never forget this game.

Although it was a tough way to lose, good things always come to an end, and maybe it was time to say goodbye.

Rest in peace. Thanks for the memories.

Ryan Wallace, State News sports administration reporter, can be reached at wallac89@msu.edu.