Cheerleader saves basketball game in the most creative way after ball gets stuck

An Indiana cheerleader creatively saved a basketball game after the ball got stuck, thanks to the help of her teammate.

On Thursday, the display came from Cassidy Cerny and her teammate Nathan Paris during the second half NCAA March Madness game between St Mary's College and Indiana in Portland, Oregon.

The ball was wedged on the top of the backboard and in between the backboard and the shock clock, which was incredibly high for anyone, including the basketball players, to jump up and get it.One of the game's referees tried to set the ball free with a mop while standing in a chair but had no luck.

And when the tallest basketball players also failed to get the ball, the game commentators and crowd called upon the Hoosiers cheerleaders.

That was the moment when Paris and Cerny stepped into formation. The duo joined as one so that Cerny could be lifted into the air as her two feet were standing firmly in Paris' hand palms to grab the ball.

"Yes, get the cheerleader up, get her up there!" said TBS commentator Andrew Catalon. "This is how you do it!"

Sign upto our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter

As she was coming back down, Cerny and Paris received cheers and thanks from the crowd."What a play! 'The cheerleader saves the day! And that is her one shining moment!" Catalan added.

People on Twitter also chimed in to say that the moment was one for the "tournament history" books.

"This is the greatest moment in tournament history," one wrote, while another added: "This is legendary, lmao."

"She better be in the One Shining Moment video," a third wrote.

Someone else simply wrote: "This is just about the best video I've ever seen."

March Madness 365 podcast creator Andy Katz also interviewed the cheerleading heroes.

"At what point did you realise you needed to do something?" Katz asked, referring to the decision to get the ball.

"We were like maybe they should throw us up this time, maybe put us up in there," Cerny said.

"But then it actually happened. I didn't think it was going to happen, though!"

Paris added: "I was like 'we lift them up all the time, so why not try that?'"

Although this was a saving grace moment, Saint Mary's did eventually prevail against Indian winning 82-53.

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.