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It was a night the Corsairs will celebrate for at least three days and one they’ll relish for a lot longer than that.

On Wednesday, the College of the Redwoods men’s basketball team showed us why this time of the year is so special in sports.

Playing on the road against a higher seed in a do-or-die clash, the Corsairs rose to the occasion with a performance head coach Ryan Bisio described as “astonishing,” as the No. 22 seeds in the NorCal bracket defeated No. 11 Merced College 85-81.

“That was one of the most incredible basketball games I’ve ever been a part of,” said the coach, who has been involved in a lot of big games, both as a player and a coach. “It’s what college basketball is all about. The drama, the big plays, the guts and courage. Our resolve to fight Merced off all night was astonishing.”

It was also a performance that epitomized team ball, and despite having leading scorer Trey Neff in foul trouble for much of the night — he featured for just 12 minutes — the Corsairs essentially led wire to wire and continued to find ways to thwart the higher seeds.

The clutch Jett Cheong helped seal the brilliant victory with four decisive free throws in the final 17 seconds and finished with a team-high 25 points, while playing like a sophomore who is enjoying his time at CR so much he was determined not to see it end.

“Not only did Jett ice the game at the free throw line, he stayed steady and poised all night against as much pressure and resistance as he’s faced all year,” his head coach said. “His composure is really the only reason we won this game. Of all the great performances in his career, this was a real signature one.”

He wasn’t the only hero on a night full of them.

Much like the team itself, former Arcata Tiger Mason Railsback has been playing his best basketball of the season down the stretch and is a key reason the CR men have now won seven of their last eight games.

And he appeared to relish the occasion more than most.

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“Mason Railsback played with supreme confidence and had a little smirk on his face late in the game, which kinda let us all know he was in control and we were going to be okay,” Bisio said. “His overall floor game was magnificent. You could sense he felt like he was the best player on the floor, and he was in my eyes.”

He wasn’t the only Arcata High graduate to impress for the team.

Former Big 5 MVP Kai Purcell added 14 points, while Neff, an Oregon native, finished with 13 in his limited action.

Perhaps most impressive of all, the Corsairs never really allowed the home team settle into much of a rhythm and led throughout despite finishing the game with four players having four fouls apiece.

The Corsairs also had nine 3s

Tyreon Payne led Merced with a game-high 31 points, while teammate Yasir Rowell finished with 26.

The question now is whether the Corsairs can keep it going against No. 6 seed Chabot College on Saturday night and move within one win of reaching the Elite Eight state tournament.

Judging by Wednesday’s performance, they won’t lack confidence going into the weekend showdown and may just have the swagger to pull off another huge road upset.

“It’s tournament time and these types of upsets make March special for everybody involved,” Bisio said. “As rare as it is to see this big of an upset, our guys knew we were playing our best ball of the year right now and we’re ready to play.”

Saturday’s game is set for 7 p.m.