Nearly a quarter-century after the final buzzer sounded, what happened at the Blaisdell Arena on Dec. 23, 1982, still resounds across the national sporting landscape.
That was the night tiny Chaminade College upset Virginia, then the No. 1 college basketball team in the country, 77-72.
The re-enactment of David and Goliath had been cast at the extremes.
Chaminade, with a student body of just 800, was an NAIA team filled with future sales managers and financial planners.
Virginia, an Atlantic Coast Conference power used to playing the likes of North Carolina and Duke, boasted not just a Goliath, but a Sampson: 7-foot-4 Ralph Sampson, a three-time national player of the year and a future NBA all-star.
Virginia entered the game with an 8-0 record, including wins over Georgetown (with Patrick Ewing) and Houston (with Akeem Olajuwon). The Silverswords were still stinging from a loss to Wayland Baptist.
Tony Randoph, a 6-foot-7 transfer from Panhandle State, drew the assignment to play Sampson, a former high school rival. Randolph's bruising defense and opportunistic scoring helped keep Sampson in check as the teams ended the first half in a tie.
The teams battled back and forth through the second half until Chaminade took a two-point lead and Virginia was forced to foul. Tim Dunham and Mark Wells combined for five successful free throws in the final minute to secure the unlikely victory.
News of the game sent shock waves through the country overnight, with one ESPN anchor refusing to read the brief, convinced it was a mistake.
The game made local heroes of the team and coach Merv Lopes. In a recent examination of each state's sporting histories, Sports Illustrated singled out the Chaminade-Virginia game as the greatest moment in Hawai'i sports.
While memories of the game are now invoked every time a so-called Cinderella team beats a national power, there has yet to be an upset of similar magnitude.
As a T-shirt produced just after the upset read: "Yes, Virginia, there is a Chaminade."
