Concussed guard sinks 3-pointer while still dazed and wobbly

His head throbbing, legs wobbly and eyes flickering, Trace Dimeff struggled to stand.

The Central Arizona College guard had just taken a violent knee to the jaw Saturday night while diving for a loose ball, but he refused to remain flat on his back on the floor with his team down five late in overtime. Dimeff instead staggered to his feet, lurched to the left corner and buried maybe the most improbable shot of the college basketball season thus far.

"I don't know what my teammate was thinking, but he passed me the ball," Dimeff told Yahoo Sports on Tuesday. "I didn't even see the shot go in honestly. I started falling down right after I shot it, but I heard everyone start yelling. I think it was all muscle memory."

Doctors afterward diagnosed Dimeff with a concussion severe enough that it may sideline him for both of Central Arizona's games this week. He definitely won't play Tuesday night against Eastern Arizona College, but he's hoping to pass concussion protocol tests in time to play on Friday.

Dimeff isn't sure why referees didn't stop the game when he was writhing on the court. His memory of the shot is hazy, so he had no idea how frightening it looked until he and his teammates cued up the game film on a laptop on Monday morning.

"We were laughing about it, but I'm also thankful that I'm safe because it really looked scary," Dimeff said. "I remember being dizzy when it happened, but I thought I just ran over to the corner. I don't remember stumbling. I had no idea my hands were still on the ground almost until I caught the ball."

Dimeff posted video of the shot on his Twitter account Monday morning. It had been retweeted more than 10,000 times by the time he awoke less than 24 hours later.

The only disappointment for Dimeff was the outcome of the game. In spite of Dimeff's shot to narrow the gap to two, Central Arizona fell 87-84 in overtime against Arizona Western College

"Honestly, I really wish we would have won the game, Dimeff said. "It's a shot I'm going to remember for the rest of my life, but it still hurts to lose."

Dimeff shouldn't be too hard on himself considering he finished with 27 points, seven rebounds and six assists.

In basketball parlance, a shooter who cannot miss is often described as unconscious. Never has the term been more accurate than this.

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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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