A UMass student who appeared to complete a halftime shooting competition at a UMass women’s basketball game was initially denied $10,000 in prize money by the promotion company due to a technicality. But UMass athletics announced Friday it is stepping in to award the prize money.

Noah Lee, a 21-year-old senior at UMass, was in attendance for the Minutewomen’s 81-54 win over St. Bonaventure on Wednesday, when he was randomly selected to participate in a $10,000 halftime shooting contest sponsored by Odds On Promotions. In a classic sporting event promotion, Lee had 30 seconds to make a layup, free throw, 3-pointer and half-court shot to win the money.

“It was a completely random selection. I was just lucky enough to be sitting there,” Lee told .

Lee’s roommate, Josh Schreiber, also a senior at UMass, posted a video on social media of Lee going 4-for-4 on each shot within the allotted time.

“The toughest part is that there was no rebounder and I only had 30 seconds. My roommate and I agreed that the only way it happens is if you hit all four in a row,” said Lee, a native of Wayland, Mass., who played basketball growing up. “I had some confidence in myself, but wouldn’t say I expected it to play out the way it did.”

During the third quarter of the game, a UMass athletics employee approached Lee and had him sign a waiver acknowledging that he participated in the competition and understood the rules, while also cautioning him that his foot may have been on the line when he made the decisive half-court shot.

Per UMass’ competition agreement, the university had to provide video from the four broadcast-angle cameras used for the game to the promotion company for review.

“At that point, I had some doubts,” Lee said. “I know how these promotion companies work, and everything has to be pretty precise. Not UMass’s fault by any means, but it kinda sucks.”

Odds On Promotions, based in Reno, Nev., sponsors contests at games and events across the country.

“For a small fee, you can offer fabulous prizes worth millions of dollars and if you have a winner, we pay for the prize,” the company describes on its website, adding that the “prize indemnification insurance portion of our business [is] underwritten by Everest National Insurance Company.”

On Thursday, Lee received an email from UMass athletics stating that upon video review by the insurance partner, his foot was, in fact, on the half-court line for his final shot, and that Odds On Promotions would not honor the $10,000 prize money.

Schreiber posted an update on social media Thursday afternoon that quickly went viral, garnering more than six million impressions.

Odd On Promotions released a statement Friday saying it was not involved in the “initial invalidation of the contest win” and became aware through media coverage of the story that UMass decided not to pay Lee.

“No formal claim or request for prize money was made by the University to Odds On in this matter,” the promotion company said. “All decisions regarding a prize payout in this matter were made solely at the University’s discretion, as we had not performed our standard 30-day claims process.”

UMass initially offered a consolation package including tickets to upcoming basketball games, gift cards to the Mullins Center concession stand and some UMass spirit wear, but by Friday morning, the athletic department released a statement that the university would furnish the prize money that had been denied by the promotion company, along with additional UMass gifts.

“We appreciate Noah taking part in the series shootout promotion at our recent women’s basketball game and applaud his efforts,” the department said via statement. “After the contest, we informed Noah we would share the footage with our insurance partner as the next step. After their review of the four camera angles we provided, they determined the half-court shot was disqualified as it was not taken behind the half-court line. We weren’t satisfied with that outcome and arrived at the decision to provide Noah with both a $10,000 award and a host of additional UMass athletics benefits.”

“It’s been a whirlwind 36 hours. The athletic director (Ryan Bamford) reached out this morning,” Lee said Friday. “I’ll hopefully get that prize money in the next day or so, and I believe they will also try to honor all the initial awards they offered as well. It’s funny how it all worked out.”

Lee, an operations and info management major who expects to graduate this spring, expressed how much he appreciates the athletic department finding a solution and said he already has big plans for his winnings.

“I gotta pay off some student loans,” Lee said, “but if I have any leftover money, I’d love to use it for an amazing spring break trip with my friends.”

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

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