NATCHITOCHES – Twenty years after crafting one of March Madness' signature moments, the Demons of Destiny will be in the spotlight Tuesday night.
 
Former Northwestern State head coach Mike McConathy and members of the 2005-06 Demon basketball team will take part in the "Cinderella Wears Purple" 20^th anniversary celebration at the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame and Northwest Louisiana History Museum from 6-7:30 p.m. on March 17. The museum is located at 800 Front Street in downtown Natchitoches.
 
The 20-year celebration occurs on the anniversary of the Demons' 64-63 NCAA Tournament victory against third-seeded Iowa on Jermaine Wallace's last-second 3-pointer. The event is free and open to the public. There will be a reception followed by the program, which will be moderated by longtime Northwestern sports information director and current special assistant to the president Doug Ireland.
 
Attendees will have the opportunity to interact with the panelists and ask questions during the panel.
 
Wallace's corner jumper over the outstretched arm of Iowa's Adam Haluska capped a remarkable Northwestern rally from 17 points down with 8:29 remaining in the game.
 
Clifton Lee tallied 16 points in a 20-6 Demon run to cut the Hawkeyes' lead to 60-57 with less than two minutes to play, helping set up one of the greatest moments in NCAA Tournament history.
 
Fittingly for a team who embodied its coach's mantra of "the MVP of our team is our team," Northwestern's final sequence came off of an offensive rebound as Wallace grabbed the carom off a missed Kerwin Forges jumper, retreated to the left corner and buried the biggest shot in program history.
 
Tagged by then-Demon Sports Network radio announcer and current ESPN+ play-by-play voice Patrick Netherton as the "Demons of Destiny," Northwestern's improbable victory ignited a storm of national media attention for the program and the university that maintains today. Wallace's shot is a staple of NCAA Tournament highlight reels and was voted the 2006 Pontiac Game Changing Performance award for the tournament. Fan voting resulted in a $105,000 general scholarship donation by General Motors/Pontiac to the university.