Mark Sears was already an Alabama basketball immortal even before Saturday, an All-American who led the Crimson Tide to its first Final Four a year ago.

However, Sears put his name on the list of most-memorable clutch shots in Alabama basketball history with his overtime buzzer-beater at Neville Arena in Auburn. Sears’ running one-hander from just inside the free-throw line handed the Crimson Tide a 93-91 victory and spoiled the Tigers’ Senior Day.

Here it is, in case for some reason you haven’t seen it by now:

Sears’ game-winner probably wasn’t the greatest shot in Alabama history, but it’s on a pretty short list of memorable buzzer-beaters. Not all of these were strictly buzzer-beaters (some came with a few seconds left on the clock), but here are nine other clutch Crimson Tide game-winners, listed in chronological order:

Terry Coner vs. Illinois (1986 NCAA tournament)

Alabama made the NCAA tournament Sweet 16 five times in six years between 1985 and 1991, and Coner’s 10-foot turnaround jumper was part of one of those runs, giving the Crimson Tide a 58-56 victory in a second-round game in Charlotte. Coner ended the game with 10 assists and 12 points, including six of Alabama’s last eight. The Crimson Tide’s season ended four days later with a 68-63 loss to Kentucky in Atlanta. (We searched pretty extensively for footage of this shot, but came up empty.)

Derrick McKey vs. Florida (1987)

What was arguably Sanderson’s best Alabama team — and one of the finest in school history — had already locked up the SEC regular-season title when it hosted Florida at Coleman Coliseum on the final day of February. Derrick McKey’s tip-in of an errant James Jackson shot gave the 10th-ranked Crimson Tide an 86-85 win over the No. 18 Gators. Alabama might have also got an assist from the clock operator, as Mark Gottfried’s nearly court-length inbounds pass was deflected by Florida’s Vernon Maxwell into the hands of Jackson, whose shot hit the backboard and the rim before McKey finished it off — all in two seconds. Alabama then swept through the SEC tournament and the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament before falling to hot-shooting Providence — led by coach Rick Pitino and guard Billy Donovan — 103-82 in the Sweet 16 round to finish 28-5. (We also could not find publicly available video of this one, though our friend David Mize of the Paul W. Bryant Museum sent along a clip from his archives that we were able to view. Let’s just say those who joked that “time stood still” for the Crimson Tide on that day weren’t wrong.)

Elliot Washington vs. Arkansas (1992 SEC tournament)

Alabama had won three straight SEC tournaments before it met league newcomer Arkansas in the 1992 semifinals at the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center Arena. After the Razorbacks missed the front end of a one-and-one up by two points with 23 seconds left, the Crimson Tide tried to get the ball in the hands of leading scorer James Robinson. “Hollywood” was double-teamed, however, and kicked the ball to Washington in the left corner. The junior-college transfer — who averaged just 1.8 points per game that season — drained a 3-pointer as time expired to give Alabama a 90-89 victory. The Crimson Tide lost decisively to Kentucky in the SEC final the following day, then fell to North Carolina in the second round of the NCAA tournament in Cincinnati, in what proved to be Sanderson’s final game as Alabama’s coach.

The full game is available on YouTube. Scroll ahead to about the 1 hour, 53-minute mark for the game-winning play:

Antoine Pettway vs. Florida (2002)

Alabama clinched at least a share of its first SEC regular-season title in 15 years securing a 65-64 victory at Coleman Coliseum. It was Gottfried — a key member of that 1987 Alabama team — who was coach on that day, but it was Pettway who was the hero. After the Gators’ James White missed a free throw with 14 seconds left, Crimson Tide guard Mo Williams ran it down in the corner and drove across midcourt before passing off to Earnest Shelton. After driving toward the lane with the clock inside 5 seconds, Shelton suddenly spied Pettway cutting unguarded toward the basket and dished it off. Pettway layed the ball off the glass and into the net for the win. Alabama locked up the regular-season title with a win at Auburn four days later, then reached the SEC tournament final before falling to Mississippi State. A two-seed in the NCAA tournament, the Crimson Tide beat Florida Atlantic in the opening round being upset 71-58 by Kent State in Round 2 in Greenville, S.C., to finish 27-8.

Here’s video of Pettway’s buzzer-beater:

Antoine Pettway vs. Southern Illinois (2004 NCAA tournament)

Before last year’s first-ever march to the Final Four, Alabama’s best NCAA tournament run came with an Elite Eight berth in 2004. The first of those three tournament victories came courtesy of Pettway, the red-shoed former walk-on who was at the center of several of the biggest moments in Crimson Tide basketball history. In an opening-round game in Seattle, Pettway faked a 3-pointer before driving the lane and lifting a right-hand runner over an two SIU defender and into the net with five seconds left. The Salukis’ Darren Brooks then missed a desperation heave off the rim at the buzzer and eighth-seeded Alabama had a 65-64 win. The Crimson Tide then knocked off top-seeded Stanford in Round 2 and reigning national champion Syracuse in the Sweet 16 in Phoenix before running into a buzzsaw in eventual champion Connecticut in the Elite Eight. Alabama finished the year at 20-13.

Here’s video of Pettway’s shot:

Ronald Steele vs. Georgia (2007)

Steele had so many clutch shots in his injury-truncated Alabama career, but his one true buzzer-beater came early in an SEC season that eventually went off the rails for the Crimson Tide. However, Alabama was ranked No. 10 nationally when Georgia visited in late January. With the game tied, Steele dribbled the clock down inside 5 seconds before lifting a jumper off one leg from just inside the 3-point arc. The shot swished the net, giving Alabama a 78-76 victory. Steele also sank a game-winner with 6.7 seconds left to beat Mississippi State 80-79 in late February, but knee troubles sank his and the Crimson Tide’s season down the stretch. Alabama lost five of its final seven regular-season games, with Steele playing just five minutes in a loss to Auburn and then not at all in the final two regular-season games vs. Ole Miss and Mississippi State. The Crimson Tide went one-and-done in both the SEC tournament and NIT to finish the year at 20-12.

Here’s (not great quality) video of Steele’s game-winner vs. Georgia:

JaMychal Green vs Auburn (2011)

The period of Alabama basketball between 2006 — Gottfried’s last good team — and the emergence of Nate Oats’ perennial SEC and national contender in 2021 was a mostly dark time in the program’s history. However, there were a few highlights, a 51-49 victory over Auburn at Coleman Coliseum in late February 2011. Tony Barbee’s Tigers weren’t any good at that point either, but had played Anthony Grant’s Crimson Tide to a standstill with 7.9 seconds left. After Alabama’s Tony Mitchell drove through the lane in traffic with time running down but couldn’t finish, Green — a Montgomery native who later played a decade in the NBA despite going undrafted — was there for the game-winning tip-in as the clock hit zero. Alabama did not make the NCAA tournament that year but did make an extensive postseason run. The Crimson Tide reached the NIT championship game before losing to Wichita State in Madison Square Garden, finishing the year at 25-12.

Here’s video of Green’s tip-in:

Trevor Releford vs. Georgia (2013)

In terms of degree of difficulty, this is probably the most incredible and memorable play on the list. Georgia and Alabama were tied as the clock wound down on Senior Day at Coleman Coliseum, when the Bulldogs’ Charles Mann lost the ball in the lane with three seconds left. The Crimson Tide’s Rodney Cooper came away with the ball and passed it ahead to Releford, who was sprinting back upcourt. Releford launched a shot from beyond half-court just before the horn, and the ball crept over the front iron for a 50-foot buzzer-beater and a 51-48 Alabama win. The Crimson Tide lost to Florida in the SEC tournament semifinals, but it wasn’t enough to put them into the NCAA tournament. Instead, it was back to the NIT, with a quarterfinal loss to Maryland ending Alabama’s season at 23-13.

Here’s Releford’s incredible half-court heave:

Collin Sexton vs. Texas A&M (2018 SEC tournament)

One of the great one-season players in Alabama history, Sexton carried the Crimson Tide to its first NCAA tournament win in 12 years as a freshman. He helped Alabama secure an at-large bid into the Field of 68 with his game-winner vs. the Aggies in the opening round of the SEC tournament in St. Louis. With the Crimson Tide down by one with 4.4 seconds left, Sexton took the inbounds pass and raced up-court through the entire A&M defense, converting a sweet finger-roll as time expired for a 71-70 victory. Alabama reached the SEC semifinals before losing to Kentucky, then beat Virginia Tech 86-83 in the first round of the NCAA tournament in Pittsburgh — behind 21 second-half points from Sexton — before getting blown out in Round 2 by eventual national champion Villanova. The Crimson Tide’s season ended with a 20-16 record and its lone NCAA tournament appearance in four years under coach Avery Johnson.

Here’s Sexton’s mad dash to the paint for the score:

So there’s a pretty extensive — if not comprehensive — list of the greatest game-winning shots in Alabama basketball history. It’s possible we overlooked a few, particularly those from the freely-available video age.

What did we leave off? Send us an email and let us know.

Creg Stephenson has worked for AL.com since 2010 and has covered college sports for a variety of publications since 1994. Email him at [email protected]