Tarence Guinyard’s coast-to-coast, buzzer-beating drive to beat La Salle on Wednesday made it onto ESPN SportsCenter’s “Top 10 Plays” for the night.

But the exhilarating highlight from the Duquesne guard almost never happened.

During his live postgame interview on ESPN , coach Dru Joyce III admitted that he almost called a timeout.

“When I saw him on the go, after it touched two people’s hands, I was originally going to call a timeout and see if we could get it at the half-court line,” Joyce said. “But when I saw him catching the breakdown of the play? Just put it in his hands. He made a terrific play.”

Underscoring Joyce’s point, two other players actually had to touch the ball first before Guinyard got his hands on it. David Dixon rebounded a missed free throw from La Salle’s Rob Dockery with the Explorers up 61-60. There were 6.5 seconds on a stopped clock when Dockery took the free throw.

The 6-foot-9 Dixon immediately got the ball out of his hands to the nearest forward, Alex Williams. He barely touched it over to Guinyard, who possessed the ball with just 5.2 seconds on the clock.

Guinyard, who Joyce refers to as “The Blur” because of his uncommon speed with the ball, immediately went the length of the floor and navigated through traffic to release the eventual game-winning shot with 1.2 seconds remaining.

It fell through the hoop with 0.3 left on the game clock.

“All that was in my mind was get to the basket and finish,” Guinyard said on Fox Sports Pittsburgh 970 after the game. “I just used my speed. I got there really quick.”

Joyce praised Guinyard’s decisiveness on the play as soon as he got the ball from Williams.

“He attacked the middle of the floor. We got it in his hands, and 6.5 (seconds) is a good enough time,” Joyce said.

For most, no. For Guinyard, yes. His blinding speed is a big reason why, at 16.4 points per game, Guinyard is the second-leading scorer in the Atlantic 10.

“I should’ve done that all game,” Guinyard said of his 11-point outing Wednesday. “Sometimes you aren’t going to have the big games. But you have to be able to score in the clutch and make a big play.”

Which Guinyard did on that possession, and on a similarly difficult bucket the previous possession to tie the game at 60-60.

Now the Dukes (16-10) hope Guinyard can be just as clutch at Dayton (17-9) on Saturday afternoon.

The Dukes are seeking their sixth straight win against the Flyers in Ohio at 2 p.m. The Flyers beat Duquesne, 71-65, at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse on Jan. 13. Both clubs are 8-5, tied with St. Joseph’s for fourth place in the Atlantic 10.