It’s not often you can eclipse the moment you drain a half-court shot for a prize, especially not in a matter of seconds.
But this was no average Thursday night for Siena College alum, Erin Tobin, who started celebrating her miraculous shot only to turn around and see the man she thought was a Dunkin’ Donuts mascot get on one knee.
Tobin’s boyfriend, Steve Duckett, hid himself behind a Dunkin’ Donuts cup costume while his soon-to-be fiancée lined up her righty hook shot with a $500 gift card on the line. Soon after she banked it in and began jumping up and down with excitement, the cameras panned to a kneeling Duckett, who shed the costume and then the box to reveal an engagement ring.
All Tobin could do was put her hands to her face as the flood emotions came crashing down.
“I was jumping up and down after hitting the shot since my brother said he’d give me 50 dollars if I even hit the rim,” Tobin, 30, said in a press release, according to Times Union. “And then I turn around expecting a gift card from Dunkin’ Donuts and there he was on his knees and I didn’t have any words.”
Duckett, 31, always had planned to surprise Tobin, a Siena men’s basketball season-ticket holder, with the engagement at a game. Little did he expect how extra special she would make the moment.
“Oh, no!” he said, when asked to describe his immediate reaction. “And then I said to myself, of course she would hit the shot.”