The pre-game festivities at The Missouri Valley Conference Championship game included the $50K shot!!

Alex Permann, a 24-year-old optometry student at the University of Missouri-St. Louis was selected and was ready for the shooting contest; make a layup, free throw, 3-pointer and half-court shot in the allotted time to win a prize – 24 seconds, in Sunday's case, and $50,000.

Permann hit the layup, nailed the free throw, then dashed to the midcourt line and buried a half-court shot, waving his hands in joy as the crowd roared, thinking they had just seen the big winner of the weekend.

When he hit the long range shot, he thought he won the CASH.

Ooops.

He forgot about sinking the 3-pointer -- 

By the time he realized his mistake, he had time to rush off a couple of 3-point attempts, but missed.

Rules are rules. MVC officials huddled and came up with a compromise. Permann will get four tickets for life to the MVC tournament and four VIP passes and a three-day hotel stay in St. Louis for next year's tournament.