FROSTBURG — No one’s fortunes turned quicker than those of Gonzaga’s Cedrick Lindsay Saturday night at Frostburg State University.

In precisely 13.9 seconds, the senior guard went from down in the dumps to championship game hero and Most Valuable Player of the 50th Alhambra Catholic Invitational tournament.

After missing two foul shots with 14.4 seconds left, Lindsay returned to the line and hit a pair with 0.5 seconds on the clock to lift Gonzaga to a thrilling 68-67 win over DeMatha and a third straight ACIT championship.

Lindsay admitted it was the perfect end to a high school career: hit the winning shot, beat DeMatha in a championship game, and be named MVP to boot.

“It’s a storybook ending, and just a great feeling,’’ said Lindsay, headed to the University of Richmond in the fall. “We’ve got a great group of guys on our team, and I couldn’t have done it without them. We’re a team.”

Malcolm Lemmons had 14 points on 7-for-9 shooting and Tyler Thornton added 13 points, five rebounds, four steals and three assists for Gonzaga (28-6).

Lindsay’s championship game stats (4-for-9 from the field and foul line, 12 points, two rebounds) may not stack up with some of the past MVPs but few, perhaps none, have made bigger shots with more pressure in a championship game in a half century of ACIT basketball.

His two missed foul shots seconds earlier were followed by a pair of free throws by Quinn Cook that put the Stags ahead 67-66 with 2.8 seconds to go.

Gonzaga coach Steve Turner called a timeout to set up a final play, and saw a few long faces in his huddle.

“When they came into the huddle they were a little down and some of their heads were down,’’ said Turner. “I turned to Ced, who was one of the guys that had his head down a little bit, looked him in his face and said, ‘Look, you’re going to win the game right now, so get ready to play.’

“He perked up quick. I told him we were going to put it in his hands, either from Kris (Jenkins) on a quick dump to him attacking, or by getting him coming off a curl. He got it, attacked and was able to draw the foul.”

Tyler Thornton inbounded the ball to Lindsay, who took a few dribbles against DeMatha’s fullcourt pressure. Just as Lindsay got past halfcourt, he got off a running shot but was fouled in mid-air by DeMatha’s Victor Oladipo with a half-second showing on the clock.

There was no doubt about the contact and foul. And there was no doubt, in Lindsay’s mind, what the result would be when he went to the line for three foul shots.

“Actually, after I missed the first two foul shots earlier, I didn’t really feel much pressure, because I had gotten a second chance. It was great to get a second chance and a lot of players don’t get one. I knew I had to put them down.”

Lindsay hit the first two to put the Eagles up 68-67. Turner called a timeout, and Lindsay said his coach told him to intentionally miss the third, which would leave DeMatha with no chance to rebound the miss and get off a fullcourt heave in half of a second.

In the DeMatha huddle, the Stags knew what the Eagles were up to, so coach Mike Jones told his players to purposely step into the lane to draw a violation each time Lindsay tried to miss.

The hope was, Jones said, to be stubborn enough to see if Gonzaga would just decide to make the shot, and DeMatha could call a timeout and set up a play to try to tie it; or, force officials to call a technical foul for delay of the game. That would give the Eagles a few more foul shots. But if they missed any, it would be a 3-point game and Gonzaga would still have to inbound the ball, giving the Stags a chance at a steal and maybe a shot.

There wasn’t much chance of success of either, but it was the only hope DeMatha had left.

After the second miss, officials allowed the clock to expire and the game ended with Jones walking across the court to speak to departing officials about their call.

“I spoke to Mr. Elliott (one of the three officials) and he said they didn’t want to end the game on a technical foul, and I can respect that,’’ Jones said. “I still contend that we should have been given the opportunity to exhaust every option.

“But in the grand scheme of things it’s not a big deal. There were so many other plays that could have won or lost the game for us.”

Cook had a game-high 17 points, five rebounds and four assists for DeMatha (32-4), while Oladipo, Jerian Grant and Mikael Hopkins had 14 points. Oladipo grabbed 10 rebounds.

In a game that featured 17 ties, the largest lead was Gonzaga’s 64-58 edge with less than two minutes to go.

That six-point lead came after a three-point play by 6-foot-9 junior Ben Dickinson, who had seven points in a 1:20 span late in the quarter. His seven points, eight by 6-6 freshman Kris Jenkins and five by 6-0 freshman Nate Britt gave Gonzaga 20 big points off the bench.

“We’ve always told our guys somebody may not have it going some night,’’ said Turner. “We’re a team, and when that happens, somebody’s got to pick us up. You never know when your name’s going to be called and what you may be presented with. You’ve got to be prepared and we try to prepare our guys so that they can take advantage of their opportunities.

“Those guys could be starters on any given night for us, and they should start for us next year.”

Lindsay and Thornton were joined in the all-tournament first team by Oladipo and Cook of DeMatha and Mike Gbinije of Benedictine, who was also the most outstanding player.

Mike Mathews is a Cumberland Times-News sportswriter. He can be reached at mmathews@times-news.com.