The Saint Francis Red Flash got stung by the Alabama State Hornets in the closing seconds to open the 2025 NCAA Tournament on Tuesday night.
The Hornets kicked things off in the First Four with some madness in the final 3.4 seconds of the second half, taking a 70-68 win in improbable fashion in Dayton, Ohio.
Alabama State’s Micah Simpson launched a Hail Mary inbound pass from the far end of the court into a group of players from both teams. It got tipped and ended up in the hands of Amarr Knox, who was able to put up the go-ahead layup with 1.0 seconds left on the clock.
Knox immediately started jumping up and down in celebration as the Hornets’ bench went crazy and Saint Francis players looked a mix of heartbroken and stunned.
“Well, the thing about it is he’s a First-Team All-SWAC guy. He didn’t have a great [conference tournament] so we knew he had to come out and get it going tonight, and he did,” Hornets head coach Tony Madlock told CBS about Knox after the win.
After the officials reviewed the game clock, the Red Flash had one last chance to tie the game but failed on their desperation heave, allowing the Hornets to advance to the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
They’ll take on No. 1 seed Auburn on Thursday at 2:50 p.m. ET.
The victory was the Hornets’ first-ever NCAA Tournament win in program history.
Knox finished the game with a team-high 16 points on 8 of 15 shooting from the floor.
TJ Madlock added 11 points for the Hornets.
