Eric Devendorf was beloved by many Syracuse fans for his competitiveness and his willingness to do anything to win. Those traits might have cost him and Detroit Mercy during a 72-70 loss to Youngstown State on Saturday.

Devendorf, who serves as a special assistant to head coach Mike Davis, was assessed a technical foul late in Detroit Mercy’s defeat after under-hand tossing a sneaker nearly the full length of the court.

According to the Detroit News, Detroit Mercy was winning 69-65 with 2:18 remaining when the Titans' Derrien King lost his sneaker in the middle of play. Devendorf retrieved the shoe and, in an effort to return it, under-handed the sneaker the length of the court.

Still laughing at Eric Devendorf getting a technical for tossing his own players shoe all the way across the court. pic.twitter.com/55jAi0jz3k — Brad Demattia (@BradDemo) February 3, 2019

King showed the importance of having both sneakers at the end of the play, slipping and falling while trying to stop. And it was a heck of a toss by Devendorf.

But the end result was unfortunate. Darius Quisenberry made both technical free throws and Youngstown State went on to win 72-70 on a game-winning 3-pointer with 13 seconds left.

Devendorf is in his first year on Davis' staff, progressing in his coaching career. The Titans are led by Anotine Davis, one of the country’s best freshmen, and have improved substantially from last season. After going 4-14 in the Horizon League last year, Detroit Mercy is currently 6-5.

Devendorf, as well as the rest of us who were unfamiliar with the rules regarding returning sneakers, will certainly chalk the moment up as a learning experience.

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