Lahaina, Hawaii — Senior center Paul Davis stared up at the scoreboard with his hands folded above his head.

The scoreboard read: Home 107, A way 106 with 4.4 seconds left in triple overtime, and senior guard Maurice Ager, MSU's leading scorer, had fouled out of the game moments before, putting the Spartans in a hole with Gonzaga guard Derek Raivio on the free-throw line.

As Raivio sank his shots, it inched the Spartans farther away from the Bulldogs.

And after the Spartans failed to get off a shot before the final buzzer, Gonzaga left the court with a 109-106 victory and a spot in the championship game of the EA Sports Maui Invitational.

"This was one of the best basketball games as far as free throws shot, and big shots made and plays out of timeouts that were unbelievable," MSU head coach Tom Izzo said. "Forget college basketball, this was good basketball."

There was no shortage of breathtaking plays between MSU and Gonzaga in this semifinal game Tuesday afternoon, which took so long it delayed the next game on the schedule.

The highlight-worthy plays started with a familiar duo — a pass from junior guard Shannon Brown to Ager for the slam minutes into the game.

It continued until the buzzer of regulation, when Ager drained a 3-pointer to send the game into overtime.

So on and on the Spartans and Bulldogs gutted it out for more than three hours and three overtimes — each possession critical, each blocked shot that much more heartbreaking.

Gonzaga forward Adam Morrison poured in 43 points to set a Maui Invitational record.

"In big games against a tough opponent like this, he hit a lot of tough shots," Gonzaga head coach Mark Few said. "As a coach, you're trying to put the ball into the best hands."

Bulldogs guard Derek Raivio added 26 points, while center J.P. Batista had 22.

Ager was matched up against Morrison — a preseason All-America selection — and ran into foul trouble. Ager missed parts of both halves with foul trouble, and played all three overtimes with four fouls.

But that's not to say Ager didn't make up for it. The senior guard's 3-pointer at the buzzer sent the game into extra minutes with the score at 80.

With 4.6 seconds left in the third overtime, sophomore guard Drew Neitzel dished a pass to freshman forward Goran Suton that could've given the Spartans the edge, but Suton missed an open layup.