Alabama St. wins thriller with own spin on Hail Mary

Adam RittenbergMar 18, 2025, 09:29 PM ET Close College football press reporter; signed up with ESPN in 2008. Graduate of Northwestern University.DAYTON, Ohio– Alabama State guard Micah Simpson played quarterback in middle school before switching to wide receiver and cornerback as a high schooler in Tennessee.”Flashback, “Simpson said, flashing a big smile in the Hornets

‘locker room. “He’s absolutely our quarterback,”colleague Amarr Knox said.Simpson didn’t begin the season throwing long passes downcourt in end-of-game circumstances, earning the function just around Christmas. But when Alabama State needed a Hail Mary of sorts Tuesday night, tied with fellow No. 16 seed Saint Francis with 3.4 seconds left in a First 4 match, Simpson existed to deliver.Editor’s Picks 2 Related His long pass deflected twice before landing with Knox, whose layup with one 2nd left lifted Alabama State to a 70-68 win. The Hornets notched their first NCAA tournament

victory and advanced to deal with Auburn, the No. 1 overall seed and the headliner of the South Region, on Thursday in Lexington, Kentucky. “He makes that hand down the cash all the time in practice,”stated Knox, who led Alabama State with 16 points. “It was best today.” Simpson targeted forward Jasteven Walker, Alabama State’s tallest starter at 6-foot-10, and had connected with him in the past. However this time, his pass hit the hands of both Walker and colleague TJ Madlock before ending up with Knox under the Saint Francis basket.”It wasn’t supposed to go to me, but I wanted to go get it, go make a play, and that’s what I did,”Madlock stated.” However it wasn’t expected to go to me; it was supposed to go to our huge. However hey, it’s March Insanity. Anything can take place.”Alabama State coach Tony Madlock, the dad of TJ, stated his team spends 10 to 12 minutes on situational aspects before each game. The Hornets practice half-court shots, an option Tuesday if they had actually chosen a shorter inbounds pass.The coach had choices on the last sequence but opted for a play lacking much of a success rate.”Not that I have actually been involved in, “he stated when asked if the play had actually worked in the past.”We practice it a lot. “” How can you beat that– for a school in the SWAC that has a great deal of terrific custom for us

to go play at Rupp Arena?” Alabama State coach Tony Madlock said of his team’s approaching game versus No. 1 Auburn in Lexington.”Absolutely nothing like it. We can’t wait.”Dylan Buell/Getty Images As Simpson included,” Generally we simply toss it, let the high guy go get it, pass it to one of the shooters. However instead, we had it tipped up.” Alabama State routed by as numerous as 9 points and minimized the deficit to one point 4 times in the second half. A CJ Hines 3-pointer with 4:24 to play gave the Hornets their first lead given that the 14:20 mark of the first half. However a mad series that included two Saint Francis 3-pointers and a turnover left the game deadlocked.A Hornets team that won all 3 of its SWAC competition games by 5 points or less was comfy making another clutch play.”All of our games end much like this,”Tony Madlock said.Men’s Competition Challenge Sign up now to play the # 1 Men’s bracket game for FREE!$ 135,000 in prizes.