A last second layup lifted Alabama State to a date with No. 1 overall seed Auburn on Thursday in a South Region game at Lexington, Kentucky. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean)
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The Birmingham Times
The Alabama State University Hornets on Tuesday stung St. Francis Red Flash 70–68 in a thrilling last-second finish to record the school’s first-ever NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament victory.
The Hornets drew up a Hail Mary play in a tie game with 3.5 seconds left.
The full-court pass took multiple deflections before ending up in the lap of star Amarr Knox, who converted the biggest shot in Alabama State basketball history to advance past St. Francis (PA) in a play-in game for the right to take on top-seed Auburn on Thursday.
“We’re not through,” Alabama State coach Tony Madlock told the team afterwards. “Let’s keep playing! I am so proud. First tournament win in Alabama history, baby! … Let’s just keep doin’ it. Let’s fly around and have fun. I want to have fun.”
“I’m just so proud of you guys, man,” Madlock said in the locker room.
Knox scored 16 points to help the Hornets (20-15) earn a date with No. 1 overall seed Auburn on Thursday in a South Region game at Lexington, Kentucky.
“You just said it: March Madness,” Madlock said. “I think I’ve talked about this with all of the media, that all of our games end just like this, either we have to get a bucket or we have to get a stop. Fortunately, enough we were able to get a bucket to finish this game off.”
After forcing a turnover in the final seconds, Alabama State had the ball out of bounds under its own basket. With the score tied, Micah Simpson threw a long pass nearly the length of the court toward a scrum of players in the lane at the other end — not unlike a Hail Mary in football.
The ball deflected off a teammate and right into Knox’s hands near the rim, giving him a simple layup for the winning points.
“We put our tallest athletic person to go get the ball,” Knox said. “And fortunately everybody tipped the ball, and it landed to me, and I got the rebound and made the layup.”
Alabama State played from behind essentially the whole night in a quirky game.
St. Francis hit tough shot after tough shot in one of their better shooting displays (10-22 3FG) of the season. The NEC champions led from 13:58 in the first half through the five-minutes remaining mark in the second half.
Alabama State didn’t even attempt a free throw until the final 10 minutes of the game.
Somehow, it all culminated in a brilliant, chaotic ending that included a couple mishandled loose basketballs and a miraculous ending.
