How do you score 10 points in the final 45 seconds of a national championship game to lead your team back from a seven-point deficit and defeat an opponent who had won an NCAA Division II record 57 games in a row?

For Anthony Atkinson, who pulled off that feat against Winona State University in 2007 to give Barton College its first national title in men’s basketball, it was about preparation.

“It’s crazy, because every scenario we went through in those last 45 seconds in that national championship game was something my dad and I went over and he preached to me every day in workouts when I was younger,” Atkinson said. “He always said you had to be mentally tough. You can’t let what other teams are doing to you affect you. … I never felt like we were losing. I always felt calm, and that’s something I learned from my father.”

He remained calm right down to the final play, in which he drove from half-court to the basket and put in a layup with just one-tenth of a second left on the clock for the game-winning points.

He’d been prepared for that, too.

“The two games before – the quarterfinal against Grand Valley State and the semifinal against Cal State- San Bernadino – I took the ball the length of the court in both those games,” Atkinson said. “So as soon as I caught the ball against Winona State, I realized how fast I was and that I didn’t need to panic, shoot a quick three or anything like that.

“My first instinct as a point guard was to look at the clock. I caught the ball at half-court with 2.7 seconds left, and I knew I had driven the length of the floor in three seconds or less a couple of nights earlier. I was pretty sure I could get to the basket from there in time.”

Once Barton head coach Ron Lievense saw Atkinson look at the clock, he said he too felt a sense of calm about the play.

“When we got that steal, right then my tendency was to call a timeout,” Lievense said. “But Anthony looked at the clock. Now how many point guards have that ability to put all the stressors aside, all the emotions aside? When he got the ball, he looked at the clock. And when did that … it was like a peace came over my body and said, just let it run out, let it play out. So I didn’t call the timeout, and Anthony didn’t throw up a 50-foot shot.”

The national championship win completed a 31-5 season for the Bulldogs that included nine overtime games – all victories – an NCAA record. Atkinson scored 750 points that season, a school single-season record for the NCAA Division II era. Given that, some people may be surprised to learn that he also set the Barton single-season record for assists that year as well, 217.

“Anthony was never, ever intimidated. He always had the idea that he would make the big play,” Lievense said. “And yet, he was also one of the most unselfish players I’ve ever coached. He could have averaged 35 points per game if he wanted to. But he was more concerned about the team than himself.”

Despite his obvious heroics in the title game, Atkinson is quick to point out the contributions of his teammates.

“I get a lot of credit because I scored the points, but we got the steals from Errol Frails and Bobby Buffaloe, we got a great defensive job from David King and Brian Leggett on their big men, and then you had all the other people who scored points – Alejo (Barovero), Bobby Buffaloe, Bobby McNeil. Everyone from our coaches down to our trainers, everybody gets credit for it. I got more credit because I scored 10 points (at the end), but it was an overall team effort.”

Lievense isn’t surprised to hear that, given Atkinson’s character.

“When we were at the Elite Eight, I went down to breakfast one morning, and Anthony was already there doing his devotions. He had just hit two big shots in a row to get us into the championship game, but there wasn’t any hoopla. He was just there having quiet time with his devotions. That’s how grounded he was. That just showed you how he was raised.”

Lievense had known since Atkinson was in middle school the kind of player and person he was, and he tried to recruit him to Barton out of high school at Greenfield School. At that point, however, Atkinson wanted to see what he could do at the Division I level.

Billy Lee, the long-time head coach at Campbell University, signed Atkinson to come play for the Camels. However, Lee left the school shortly thereafter, and Atkinson did not have the same connection to the new head coach. Although he started in 31 games over two years and averaged double-figures, he didn’t find Campbell to be the right place for him.

“After my sophomore year, I decided I wanted to transfer,” Atkinson said. “I felt like I needed to come back home to get refocused on my dream. … I knew Coach Lievense always had good guards in his program. Tim Black was a senior on the verge of leaving, and I thought that it would be the perfect time for me to come in and take over after Tim left. After watching them play I said, ‘yeah, this is where I’m supposed to be.’”

There was another reason Atkinson wanted to come to Barton, a chance to “bring something special to my community of Wilson.” He certainly achieved that goal in leading the Bulldogs to the national title.

“We will never forget about the best week of our lives,” Atkinson said. “Along with me getting married and the birth of my children, that week is right there on my list. It was a bond that will never be broken. We were down and we were tested. It made us all come together. Then the culmination of everything, when we drove back into Wilson and saw people lining the road and the traffic stopped. We came on campus and there were thousands of people there. It’s overwhelming to think about.”

Although he played just two years for the Bulldogs, he enters the Barton College Athletic Hall of Fame ranked seventh on the school’s DII era scoring list with 1,340 points and second in assists with 376.

“I’m just so proud to have had him come home and finish his career here at Barton in Wilson, where he met one of his goals, which was to lead us to a national title in his hometown,” Lievense said. “’I’m so glad he got to live that dream.

“Anthony is a young man who puts others ahead of himself, just like he did with our team. He is a godly man who believes that he is making a difference in this world, and that’s how he views his job now with the Harlem Globetrotters. Anthony is a very grounded young man. He could live anywhere he wants to live, and he chooses to live in Wilson where he can make a difference in people’s lives.”