CLEVELAND -- The situation was unlikely for many reasons.

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The Bonnies of St. Bonaventure, a school that hadn't had a spot in the NCAA Tournament in 22 years, were up three points over the team with the most victories in NCAA history -- Kentucky -- and the clock ticking down to 10 seconds.

The options were clear:

Send them to the free-throw line for two shots with a foul.

Let them try a 3-pointer.

Granted, an obvious intentional foul also gives the Wildcats the ball after the free throws, but no NCAA official will call an intentional foul in that situation. So don't you just consider that option?

Not if you're Jim Baron, the St. Bonaventure coach. So one bone-crunching double-pick allowed Kentucky sophomore Tayshaun Prince to nail a wide-open three just before the buzzer, and two overtimes later, Kentucky scooted off the floor with an 85-80 victory.

"They made a great play," Baron said. "(Prince) came off of two screens, and like I said, they were 2-for-10 in the second half from 3-point range. So we just felt our defense would sustain, which it has all year."

What Baron didn't mention was Prince finished the game 5-of-9 from 3-point range. He went on to talk about Kentucky's Jamaal Magloire inside, that they would probably try to get a 3-point play or just plain power the ball down low. It all didn't add up, but the questionable strategy did nothing to diminish this game that drew the appreciative sellout crowd at the Convocation Center to its feet when the two clubs left the floor after the second overtime.

Prince's shot was special in its own right, considering how the Wildcats had gained control of the game after a sluggish start, then gave it back to the upstart Bonnies. Prince led all scorers with 22 points, and after Souleymane Camara and Keith Bogans picked David Messiah Capers, Prince drained the shot without the net so much as budging.

"Those were a couple of great screens, and that's why I was so wide open," Prince said. "I just had to follow-through on my shot."

But the Bonnies' Messiah wasn't finished by a long shot, so to speak. The lead changed hands four times in the first overtime, with Magloire and Prince leading the 'Cats. Kentucky led by four with 13 seconds left on Camara's free throw, but senior St. Bonaventure guard Tim Winn drove the length of the floor and completed a 3-point play with a spectacular reverse layup as Camara fouled out.

That came just moments after point guard Saul Smith -- coach Tubby Smith's son, who drew taunts of "Daddy's Little Point guard" from the rowdy Bonnie fans -- had fouled out as well. Now, the Wildcats had just two players left on their bench and a one-point lead with 8.7 seconds left. They fouled Magloire before the ball even came inbounds. And the demonstrative senior sank them both.

"I think we were hungry and just rose to the occasion," Magloire said. "We were all here with a burning desire."

Inexplicably, Camara's replacement, Marvin Stone, fouled "Messiah" Capers as he attempted a 3-pointer with .4 seconds left in the first overtime and a 76-73 lead. He hadn't taken a free throw during six of the past seven games and was only a .566 shooter for the season. But after two timeouts to freeze him, "Messiah" rose to the occasion to by converting all three.

David Capers gets congratulations after forcing the second OT, but the celebration doesn't last long for the Bonnies. (AP)

"I was just trying to give my team another chance," Capers said. "The guys came over and said no matter what happens, whether you make them or miss them, they still love me."

Or, as Winn said: "It was like a dream, but in the dream it was me at the free-throw line. I'm glad it was him."

But the Wildcats have had their own story to tell all season. Nine players are missing from last year's team. Prize recruit John Stewart died on the first day of the 1999 NCAA Tournament. Shooting guard Desmond Allison was arrested and subsequently suspended after being charged with DUI on Sunday. But this vulnerable squad hung together to barely avoid the always possible mojo of a 12th seed upsetting a fifth.

Considering it was just a first-round game, this victory won't go down in the storied Kentucky history as one of its great ones in the tournament. But in the nine-year head-coaching career of Tubby Smith, it would be tough to come up with a bigger game than this one. After blowing the first overtime, the Wildcats' composure and focus had Smith glowing brightly enough that it could be seen the 300 miles or so from Cleveland to Lexington.

"That's been the profile of this team all year long," Smith said. "No one picked us to win the Southeastern Conference title, and we tied for it. Not many people had us in the top 25 and it's obvious why ... we have a very young team. As we've matured and grown together and overcome some of the difficult times, that's made us stronger as a family and as individuals. I couldn't be prouder of what these kids have overcome."

Indeed, few basketball teams ever have or ever will endure the loss of 10 players and an opposing basketball player named Messiah hitting the big shots.

Double-screen or no double-screen for the forward presently known as Prince, this is a game those who had the pleasure of witnessing won't soon forget.