Abdul-Hamid shines in his final year as a Bruin

It was everything fans always hope to see at a sporting event.

The home team snatches victory from the jaws of defeat on a last-second play executed by the most unlikely of underdog heroes.

It’s too perfect, even. If it were written in a movie script, some Hollywood executive would have already scrapped it for being too corny.

But on Jan. 22, when UCLA reserve guard Mustafa Abdul-Hamid fired up a shot just before the final horn sounded, you know every Bruin fan in Pauley Pavilion was clutching their program tight and hoping for that happy ending.

With three seconds left, trailing Washington by one, Abdul-Hamid took the inbound pass and dribbled to the top of the key. After one tremendous pump fake, he delivered the dagger to the heart, a jump-shot swish that gave the Bruins a 62-61 victory.

The building erupted in celebration, the team mobbed their savior at center court, and a video of the shot was later featured on SportsCenter as the No. 1 play on ESPN’s list of the day’s best in the world of sports.

“First off,” said UCLA freshman forward Reeves Nelson to open his post-game interview, “I’d like to thank the Lord for Mustafa Abdul-Hamid.”

Nelson wasn’t the only one to feel that way after the game.

“I couldn’t be happier for a player that I’ve coached since I’ve been in coaching than to have Mustafa hit that shot,” coach Ben Howland said. “No one has worked harder or been more committed to the program.”

The 6-foot-2-inch guard had been a favorite among Bruin fans even before his buzzer-beating heroics trumpeted his name to television sets around the country.

For his first two years in Westwood, the St. Louis native was a non-scholarship player, fighting for limited playing time on a roster full of future NBA guards.