<P> Furthermore, although Bashkin's actions had caused the game to be stopped with one second remaining on the clock, the officials decided neither to resume play from that point, nor to assess a technical foul against him for having interrupted the play . They instead wiped out the play altogether, ruling that the entire inbounds sequence would be replayed from the point immediately following the second free throw and that the game clock would thus be reset to three seconds . Jones, who had had a contentious relationship with American basketball officials for a number of years, came down from the stands to the court to contribute to the officials' ruling, and he insisted upon a complete replay of the final three seconds . According to Tenschert, Righetto had initially declared that play would resume with just one second remaining, only to be overruled by Jones . Jones later acknowledged that under the Olympic regulations, he had no authority to make rulings about a game in progress, though he maintained that resetting the clock was the correct course of action . Ed Steitz who, over the course of his basketball career, served both as the president of USA Basketball and as a member of FIBA's Technical Committee, claimed that years after the game, Jones privately confided that with the clock reset still leaving only three seconds to play, he hadn't expected the Soviets would actually be able to score within that time . </P> <P> The players were brought back into position for a second inbounds play . However, instead of Zharmukhamedov returning to throw the inbounds pass, Kondrashin managed to substitute Ivan Edeshko into the game in Zharmukhamedov's place . Kondrashin's plan was to have Edeshko attempt a length - of - the - court pass to center Aleksandr Belov near the American basket, confident that Belov could catch any pass thrown accurately to him there and feeling that Edeshko was the player most skilled in executing such a pass . The two players had successfully run much the same play for CSKA Moscow team the preceding year to claim the Soviet Championship . Under the Olympic rules, substitutions were not to have been allowed without the granting of the time - out, but the referees resumed the game, failing to notice this issue and also not noticing that clock operator Andre Chopard was still working on getting the game clock set to three seconds . The ball was given to Edeshko to start play, with the scoreboard clock actually showing 50 seconds remaining . </P> <P> Edeshko was defended at the end line by American center Tom McMillen . With his 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) frame, McMillen aggressively challenged Edeshko's inbounds attempt, making it difficult for Edeshko to pass the ball into play . Edeshko ultimately made only a short pass to teammate Modestas Paulauskas standing in the Soviet backcourt . Paulauskas then immediately relayed a pass toward Belov at the other end of the court . But the horn sounded, with the pass barely out of Paulauskas's hand . The pass then missed its mark and was uneventfully tipped off the backboard . The players, the announcers of both television broadcasts, and the majority of the spectators in the arena all interpreted the sound of the horn, combined with the sight of a failed Soviet pass, as the end of the game . People flooded the court and the U.S. team began a joyful celebration of its apparent one - point victory . </P> <P> With Jones still involved in the process, the officials once again ordered the court to be cleared, the players to be brought back into position, the clock to be reset, and the final three seconds be replayed . Furious over the decision to deny the U.S. victory and allow the Soviets yet a third inbounds play, the U.S. coaches briefly considered unilaterally declaring the game to be over by pulling their team off the floor . However, head coach Hank Iba was concerned that such an action would leave the U.S. vulnerable to a Soviet appeal, which might lead to a ruling that the U.S. had forfeited the game . U.S. assistant coach John Bach reported that Jones threatened him directly with such a forfeiture should the U.S. team not return to the floor . In finally deciding to comply with the officials, Iba reportedly told his coaching staff, "I don't want to lose this game later tonight, sitting on my butt ." </P>

Soviet union basketball win over united states in 1972 olympics