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And in the process, squeezed the life out of a late comeback engineered by Franklin & Marshall's men's basketball team at LVC Gym.
"When I let it go, I knew it had a chance," Lebanon Valley's sophomore guard said late Tuesday night after his 3-pointer splashed the net with seven-tenths of a second showing on the scoreboard clock.
"I saw it go in, and then I was on the floor."
Knocked down courtesy of a Diplomat double-team. Sean MacIntosh's steal on the ensuing inbounds pass sealed the deal on the Flying Dutchmen's 62-59 upset of a Diplomat squad ranked No. 6 in the nation in NCAA Division III.
"I knew we had to guard Meehan, he was the one guy who was doing it all game," Diplomat boss Glenn Robinson said. "We literally had two guys on him. I don't how he got it off.
"Somehow, he made it."
Meehan tied F&M's James McNally for game-high honors with 23 points. MacIntosh added 15 points for LVC (3-2). Georgio Milligan netted 12 for the Diplomats (2-1).
With the score knotted at 59, F&M freshman swingman Brandon Beckford had a 3-pointer negated by a disputed traveling call with 8.8 seconds remaining.
"I didn't see a walk," Robinson said.
The turnover paved the way for Meehan's heroics, which climaxed a second half whose six lead changes and three tied scores befitted a rivalry that dates to 1906. F&M leads the series 80-64, but the rivalry has been marked by a series of upsets.
In 1981, LVC shocked the No. 1-ranked Diplomats in 1981.
The Dutchmen did it again in 2004, when F&M was ranked fifth in the nation.
And then, there was Tuesday night.
"We've certainly told them it's going to happen," Robinson said of his team's awareness of opponents getting up for a team fresh off a Final Four appearance. "We've come out two games in a row now flat. The last game (an 81-70 win over Gwynedd-Mercy in the Dips' Tip-Off Tournament), we got it going. Tonight, we didn't.
"I tip my hat to Lebanon Valley. They did a great job."
"It's a huge win for us," LVC coach Brad McAlester said. "It gives our guys confidence that they can play with anybody."
Including a longtime rival, one that happens to be nationally ranked.
"We almost beat them last year, it came down to the wire and they beat us on the last play," Meehan said. "We wanted to return the favor."
Paced by Meehan and MacIntosh, who combined for 24 first-half points, LVC owned a game-high lead of 11 points late in the first half and was in front by 8 (35-27) at the break.
"It took a long time," Robinson said, "for us to get it going."
Fueled by McNally, who went 4-for-4 from the field in the first eight-plus minutes of the second half, and reserve guard Sal Salvati, who drained a 3-pointer from the left wing with 12:12 remaining, F&M finally grabbed the lead at the 12-minute mark of the second half.
The rest of the game was a back-and-forth affair. F&M's biggest lead was three points; LVC's a scant point.
"It's always a war when we play these guys," McAlester said.
And it was left to the wounded Meehan, doubled over with back spasms the eve of the game and playing despite persistent pain, to deliver the decisive blow.
"He thrives on that," McAlester said. "He just wants to win."
