(Spor) In basketball, a buzzer beater is a shot taken just before the game clock of a period expires, when the buzzer sounds and the backboard lights up. The term is normally reserved for baskets that win or tie the game at the last moment (more appropriately called as a "walk-off buzzer beater"). If a player releases the ball "beating" the buzzer, so that it sounds while the ball is in mid-air, the shot still counts if it goes in. Often, a buzzer beating shot will be released from long range (even from beyond half court), making for a spectacular play when it connects