DAYTON, Ohio — It’s March. Why should anyone be surprised by what happened in the last 2.7 seconds on Tuesday night?
So here it was in the opener for the First Four. Game tied 68-68 between Alabama State and Saint Francis, 2.7 seconds left, the Hornets with the entire court to go to try for a winner. That’s when junior guard Micah Simpson threw a Hail Mary for a touchdown. Wait, wrong sport. But then again, this is the state of Alabama. Actually, it was about an 85-foot assist, a pass into a half dozen red and gold uniforms that bounced like a pinball machine until it landed in the hands of redshirt sophomore guard Amarr Knox, whom fate had suddenly gifted with an open game-winning layup.
There would be 66 more contests in this NCAA tournament, many of them with higher stakes. But did we just see one of the most stunning finishes in the first game on the first night?
“March Madness,” coach Tony Madlock said afterward. “We talk about finding a way, finding a way. And we got the W, and that’s the only thing that matters. You’re talking about survive and advance.”
Not to kill the mood, but they advance right into the crosshairs of the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament, the Auburn Tigers. The two schools are separated by only 56 miles on the map but a few light years in national renown. Auburn has five defeats and is second in the latest NET rankings. Alabama State has 15 losses and is No. 274. But that’s for another day.
How long could the Hornets savor this moment before noticing what’s next? “I don’t know. I’ll figure that out tonight,” Madlock said. “But I know we’re going to enjoy this tonight. We’re going to have this bus ride, I guess a couple of hours down the road to play in Lexington at Rupp Arena. How can you beat that? How can you beat that for a school in the SWAC, that has a lot of great tradition, for us to go play at Rupp Arena? Nothing like it. We can’t wait.”
Yep, you could see the elation on the face of Madlock who is getting to share this with son and senior guard TJ.
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“Man, we’re going to have stories forever, aren’t we?” the father said. “For everything that happened with Alabama State, first time winning a tournament game, got to 20 wins this year. You know how hard that is for an HBCU school? It’s so hard because you have to play those money games early. But for us to just fight and fight and fight and find a way to get to 20 wins, it just means so much.”
In Alabama State’s case, money games meant only two home dates before Jan. 4, but 11 road contests in three different time zones.
And you could see the happiness for the guard whom destiny chose for the winning shot. “Fortunately everybody tipped the ball, and it landed to me, and I got the rebound and made the lay-up,” Knox said. “Couldn’t have done it without my whole team.”
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But what about the guy who threw the pass?
Simpson sat in the locker room and described how he just ended up on the highlight shows.
“When it left my hand I was like, it was close to the rim so I know we’ve got a chance. Once I saw Amarr grab it, I knew it was over with,” he said. “We work on it every day in practice. It works every time. Usually, we shoot threes off of it but we’ll take a layup for the win.”
Saint Francis freshman guard Juan Cranford Jr., playing in his hometown and scoring 18 points, was on the wrong side of that fortunate bounce. “All I remember is the ball being in the air, honestly,” he said. “I thought we had it, came down, ball got tipped, then all of a sudden they come up with the layup.
“It was crazy what happened.”
Simpson wasn’t the passer on that play until January. “Trial and error,” Madlock said of the search for the Hornet who could do it. “He’s definitely our quarterback,” Knox said. “He makes that pass on the money all the time in practice. It was perfect today.”
But had it ever worked before in an actual game? “Not that I’ve been involved in,” Madlock said. “But we practice it a lot.”
Simpson was a wide receiver in high school, his quarterback days over years ago. But he can still throw on target, even with a 6-8 opponent directly in front of him, like a blitzing linebacker. His last touchdown pass? “Definitely in middle school,” he said.
This one was for only two points, not six, but that was enough to keep the Alabama State dream going down Interstate 75 to Lexington, where Auburn will be waiting on Thursday. “We know they’re the No. 1 team but anybody can be beat,” Simpson said. “They weren’t our focus but they’re our focus now.”
For every enchanted winner, a crushed loser, especially one who just watched the killing play with one second left. “There’s a fine line between winning and losing,” Red Flash coach Rob Krimmel said. “But the emotional gap is huge.”
March is here.
