NORMAL — Johnny Kinziger almost lost the basketball.
Instead, he won the game.
After losing possession briefly in the final 30 seconds, Kinziger and his Illinois State teammates regrouped and found the sophomore guard a 3-point shot he sank with 14 seconds left to boost the Redbirds to a dramatic 81-78 Missouri Valley Conference victory over Belmont on Wednesday before a CEFCU Arena crowd of 3,477.
“I just saw Dalton (Banks) with the ball and my guy turned his head when Dalton went to drive,” Kinziger said. “I spaced to the corner. I thought he was going to fly out so I shot faked.