Nov. 27 (UPI) -- Stephen F. Austin State University senior basketball player Nathan Bain's game-winning layup to shock No. 1 Duke and the college basketball world generated a massive spike in donations to help his family in the Bahamas after the destruction caused by Hurricane Dorian.
Bain and his family's circumstances came to the forefront after his late-game heroics against the top-ranked Blue Devils on Tuesday night. Donations from around the world poured into a GoFundMe account created by the school to help his family rebuild in the aftermath of the deadly storm a few months ago.
"That was devastating, you know," Bain told ESPN after the game. "Where my country is, it's a hurricane alley. You always got to prepare yourself for it, but you never really prepare for when it actually happens. But we're a tough people, we're a tough nation, and there's a lot of people backing us and helping us. We're going to rebuild."
After a turnover from Duke in overtime, Bain grabbed the ball and raced down the court for a layup as time expired. The basket gave the Lumberjacks an 85-83 win over Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium, as Stephen F. Austin became the first non-ACC team since St. John's to beat the Blue Devils at home in nearly 20 years.
Since the conclusion of the game, the two-month-old GoFundMe page has raised more than $92,000 as of 8 p.m. EST Wednesday. Before the game, the donation total sat at about $2,000 of the $25,000 goal.
Hurricane Dorian made landfall in the Bahamas as a Category 5 storm in early September. The devastating storm destroyed "nearly everything of value" belonging to Bain's family, according to the school's GoFundMe page. Bain's father, who is a minister, said his church sustained "extreme damage."
After hammering the northern Abaco and Grand Bahama islands, Hurricane Dorian shifted to the southeastern United States. According to a recent report, the storm caused $3.4 billion in losses for the Bahamas and led to 67 confirmed deaths and 282 missing individuals as of late October.
