SPRINGFIELD — Mike Paluszek, a diehard Manhattan College basketball fan from New York, made the drive up I-91 for Monday night's MAAC championship game at Springfield's MassMutual Center.

Everything was going great for Paluszek, whose beloved Jaspers defeated the No. 1 Iona Gaels in a final clash pitting the Catholic college rivals – one in the Lasallian Brother tradition, the other in the Christian Brother tradition – against each other.

Not only did Paluszek's team defeat the Gaels, 71-68, but he managed to score the game-winning ball after Jaspers guard George Beamon hurled it high into the stands, sending Manhattan fans scrambling for a game keepsake.

A guy in the row behind Paluszek caught the ball, much to Paluszek's dismay.

"The ball has great value and significance to me as an alum," said Paluszek, a 1980 graduate of the Bronx college who's had season tickets to the Jaspers for more than a decade.

The New Yorker, incapable of accepting defeat, began negotiating with the local man, who was with his two sons.

Paluszek first offered $100 for the ball, but the man who caught the ball didn't budge. "He wavered, talked to his kids, and decided that they wanted to keep the ball," Paluszek said.

The Jaspers fan waited a few more minutes before upping his offer to $200, piquing the father's interest. The man conferred with his sons and, eventually, a deal was struck.

At last, the ball was Paluszek's – or so he thought.

"With the celebration still going on on the court, and me in my state of exhilaration, excitement and happiness with our big win, I turned toward the court where the players and coaching staff were pointing to and thanking us, the fans in the stands, who had come to support them," Paluszek said.

He said he raised the winning ball up over his head, and made the No. 1 sign with his other hand. A couple of minutes later, Paluszek said he was approached by MassMutual Center staff, who told him to return the ball.

Paluszek explained that he had just given the man who caught the ball $200, but the officials were apparently unmoved by his story. A security guard and a city police officer were now on the scene, telling Paluszek to either give up the ball or go to jail.

"I told the officer my story and said I was willing to get arrested if I could take the ball with me to the police station," Paluszek said.

At that point, he said, the ball was punched out of his hands, ending the brief standoff.

Paluszek wasn't criminally charged, but he did leave the MassMutual Center with mixed feelings – elation for the Jaspers' big win, but disappointment over losing the ball.

And for losing 200 bucks.

What do you think?

Should Paluszek have been allowed to keep the ball?

Should he seek reimbursement of the $200 he forked over for a ball that the seller may not have been in a position to sell in the first place?

Should the decision be up to the venue, or the tournament organizers, or someone else?

Vote in our poll, and post your take on the matter to the comments.

We're making phone calls to ask a number of officials to weigh in on the issue of who should get the ball, and we will report back on what we hear.