Pete Maravich Record Remains! CBI Passes On 14-19 Detroit Mercy, So Antoine Davis Finishes Three Points Shy

In the end, how strangely fitting it was.

Pistol Pete Maravich set the NCAA career scoring record in basketball with 3,667 points over three seasons from 1967-70 at LSU without the benefit of the 3-pointer.

And Detroit Mercy's Antoine Davis missed tying his record by a 3-pointer 53 years later.

Davis will not get an opportunity to add to his 3,664 points over five seasons (with an extra one via the COVID waiver in 2020) in one more game. This is because the College Basketball Invitational tournament decided not to invite 14-19 Detroit Mercy to its 16-team tournament that often includes teams with losing records. No contract was extended as of Sunday night that would have required Detroit Mercy to pay the $27,500 entry fee.

The CBI released its 16-team bracket via Twitter on Sunday night. Detroit Mercy was not on it. With four more points, Davis would have broken the record.

PETE MARAVICH'S SON DIDN'T WANT RECORD TO FALL IN PAY-FOR-PLAY TOURNEY

Davis does walk away with the NCAA career 3-pointers made record at 588 in in 144 games. He averaged 25.4 points in his career. Maravich played in 83 games, averaging an NCAA record 44.2 points for his career.

Pete Maravich Died At Age 40

Maravich went on to a spectacular NBA career from 1970-80 with the Atlanta Hawks, New Orleans Jazz and Boston Celtics. He was named one of the NBA's 50 greatest players in 1996 posthumously. He died in 1988 at age 40 of a heart attack.

The last shot of Davis' college career was from 3-point range with :04 remaining in the Titans' 71-66 loss at Youngstown State in the Horizon League Tournament on March 2. It bounced hard off the rim.

Davis struggled to shoot well in the final eight minutes of that game after he injured his shoulder when he fell into the bleachers. He finished 7 of 26 from the field and 4 of 16 from 3-point range for 22 points. Over the last eight minutes, he was 1 of 9 from the field with six of the misses from 3-point range.

Detroit Mercy guard Antoine Davis finished his five-year college career four points shy of breaking Pete Maravich's NCAA career scoring record of 3,667 points in three years at LSU from 1967-70. (Photo by Frank Jansky via Getty Images)

Antoine Davis Came Oh So Close

In Detroit Mercy's previous game, Davis passed up several open shots late in an 81-68 win over Purdue Fort Wayne in the Horizon League Tournament. Instead, he passed off to teammates. Little did he know that two more buckets in that game would've given him the record in the next game. He finished with 38 points and eight assists in that game.

"The fact was, we had one minute to go, and he could've easily went in for layups," Detroit Mercy coach Mike Davis, his father, said. "He gave it up to his teammates. That tells you who he is as a teammate and as a person."