As it does for 350 or so other NCAA Division I basketball teams, the clock struck midnight on South Carolina’s Cinderella run to an NCAA title in the waning moments of its 77-73 semifinal loss to Gonzaga on Saturday night.

But there were two significant consolations for the Gamecocks — first, midnight came much later for USC than it did for most of the other 350 non-title winning programs. Second, it didn’t come without one more run for the ages that summed up this amazing South Carolina run one last time.

In the first half, Gonzaga hit over 57 percent of its shots, rolling up 45 points, and flexing its muscle over the South Carolina defense that had carried the unlikely No. 7 seed from a possible first-round tournament loss to the verge of the national title game.

Things changed little in the second half, as Gonzaga extended its nine-point halftime advantage to 14, when star guard Nigel Williams-Goss scored an and-one bucket and foul with 10:55 to play. The 65-51 advantage when Williams-Goss drained his free throw was secure to the point of being probably another basket away from being insurmountable.

As they had so many times in their improbable run, when South Carolina’s back was forced to the wall, Frank Martin’s squad came up big — this time on the biggest stage in college basketball.

Tough sophomore forward Chris Silva created his own old fashioned three-point play. Guard P.J. Dozier drilled a jumper. Star Sindarius Thornwell shook free of the Gonzaga defense for a timely 3-pointer, and the lead was down to 65-59.

“That run by Carolina,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few told reporters after the game, “it just shows the heart of a lion they have.”

Just as Carolina’s stars began to roar on offense, its defense went from pesky to stellar. For 4 minutes and 13 seconds, Gonzaga was absolutely shut down. They missed six shots and turned the ball over twice. Inside, outside, Carolina shadowed the Bulldogs all over the court, and in one glorious burst, reminded us all what had made the team so special.

Meanwhile, the South Carolina offense rolled on. Dozier grabbed the ball after Thornwell blocked a shot, raced up the floor, and hit another jumper. Silva grabbed a pair of offensive rebounds on another possession, eventually getting fouled and sinking a pair of free throws. On the next trip, with the Gamecocks looking to tie, Silva worked the ball in low, shot and was rejected, grabbed the miss, and shot again—and was rejected again. No worry. Dozier caught the loose ball, and made another jump shot. Tie game. Pandemonium.

After another block and another rebound, Carolina guard Rakym Felder was fouled, and made two free throws. The 65-51 deficit was a 67-65 lead. The team that had been blown off the floor in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament by an NIT-bound Alabama squad was 7:06 from the national title game.

“It’s who we are,” coach Frank Martin reflected after the game. “Win or lose, they’re so resilient,” he said of his team, “They don’t give in to difficult moments and that’s the reason we’re on this platform tonight.”

And while, in the end, the following Gonzaga 7-0 run turned the tide, and Carolina found themselves on the short end of the score, for Gamecock fans, this can hardly be anything except a March — and a day of April — to remember.

“You can be a champion without winning a championship,” Martin told reporters after the game.

Even if they don’t have a national title, these Gamecocks and their proud fans will always have those magical few minutes in Phoenix. They’ll always have that one last, glorious, astounding run, which showed us all again how special they were.