WATCH: Kent State Player Has a Jawdropping Mental Lapse at the Absolute Worst Moment and Costs His Team an NCAA Tourney Bid

A stunning mental lapse at the worst possible moment cost the Kent State men’s basketball team a berth in the NCAA Tournament.

The shocking mistake happened in the final seconds of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) championship game between Kent State and Akron. After Kent State made a basket to take a 61-60 lead, Kent State’s Julius Rollins rushed up to Akron’s Greg Tribble and fouled him on purpose — under the apparent impression that his team was trailing, not leading.

“Nooooo!” ESPN play-by-play announced Eric Rothmanexclaimed. “Why is Rollins fouling?!”

“Julius Rollins did not know time and score!” ESPN analyst Mark Adams added.

Tribble went on to make the two resulting free throws, and Akron held on to defeat Kent State 62-61 — punching their ticket to the Big Dance.

Kent State coach Rob Senderoff was livid right after the foul — as ESPN cameras caught his real time reaction:

But after gathering his thoughts for the postgame news conference, Senderoff admirably tried to put the blame on himself and take his player off the hot seat.

“I should have called a timeout there, I do not blame Julius,” Senderoff said (via USA Today). “There’s 100 plays in the game and that was just one of them.”

Watch above, via ESPN2.