So much flashed through his mind. His senior year perhaps coming to the worst possible end. The Blue Devils again losing in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. The underdogs again dancing around the court, leaving the Blue Devils in shock.

"I thought it was pretty close," Nelson said. "It WAS close."

Duke, the second seed in the West Region, led 15th-seeded Belmont 71-70 with just 1.7 seconds to play Thursday night at the Verizon Center. But the Bruins had the ball and dreams do come true in March, don't they?

The best the Bruins could do was a heave by Justin Hare from near midcourt. The senior guard had made 14 winning or overtime-forcing shots in his career and was trying for one more, one CBS might show forever.

"I wanted the shot, I wanted the ball," Hare said. "It looked on-line. It looked like it had a chance of going in, maybe banking in.

"I knew it wasn't terribly off but it's such a tough shot."

Too tough. The ball hit off the side of the rim. Duke (28-5) had survived and will play again Saturday. There would be no repeat of last year's stunning loss to Virginia Commonwealth.

"For me, it was a big sigh of relief," Nelson said.

Nelson had one of his least productive games of the season: two points, four rebounds and four turnovers in 29 minutes. Yet he also figured in perhaps the game's biggest play.

Gerald Henderson's drive and basket pushed the Devils ahead 71-70 with 11.9 seconds left, but the Bruins called a timeout with four seconds to play, with possession under their basket. The play-call: an in-bounds lob to 6-foot-4 forward Shane Dansby in the lane.

"We've run that play a couple of times this season," Belmont guard Henry Harris said. "But Duke switched on defense."

Nelson fought through a screen and picked off Alex Renfroe's inbounds pass in the lane.

"A bad read by me and a bad pass," Renfroe said.

Still, it wasn't over. Nelson, fouled with 2.7 seconds left, missed the front end of a one-and-one at the line. Belmont (25-9) had the one last shot by Hare.

The Bruins, playing in their third straight NCAA Tournament as the Atlantic Sun champions, did so many things right. They executed their offense, burning the Devils on backdoor cuts or freeing up 3-point shooters.

"It helps having (NCAA) experience," Hare said. "I thought we had a chance because of our style of play. And they don't have a real dominant inside game. Being a smaller team, that's to our advantage. I don't know if we expected the game to turn out as close as it did and have a chance to win. We wanted to come in and be competitive."

Competitive? Duke led by 10 points early in the second half, but the Bruins, quick and aggressive, wouldn't back down.

"We kept battling, kept playing, defending well, keeping it close," Hare said.

Two free throws by Hare with 2:02 to play gave the Bruins a 70-69 lead. The Verizon Center crowd was roaring.

"But Duke kept its composure well," Hare said.

After the game, the Bruins left the court to a standing ovation. There was much pain in their locker room, but also pride.

"You're angry, you're frustrated, you're thinking if one play had gone this way ..." junior guard Andy Wicke said. "It's a game that ends your season. It's bittersweet.

"I think in the long run we'll be proud. Now, you're frustrated because you had a great chance to do great things for Belmont basketball and all smaller schools out there. But I think as time goes on we'll look back and be proud."