Tournment Time limit

I entered an NCAA 26 tournament, and everything was going well as I played. I completed round 1 and round 2, which would have gotten me into the semifinals. My game was still going on, and the second I finished, it said that the 5-minute joining period was up, giving my opponent an instant win. I was still in my game; there's no way for me to speed it up when playing against an online opponent. The next round would have been a guaranteed $5, and maybe $10 if I won. It's ridiculous that I didn't get the money I earned by winning my last game, and that it was taken away because I was finishing the 4th quarter. This is unacceptable.