Alabama State basketball roars back to stun Saint Francis in March Madness: On to Round of 64
Alabama State basketball's Amarr Knox will forever be a Hornets legend after hitting the game-winning shot to send them to the NCAA Tournament Round of 64.
Alabama State downed Saint Francis 70-68 on Tuesday in Dayton to earn the program's first NCAA Tournament win in its fifth try. The game was tied with 11 seconds left, but TJ Madlock missed a free throw. The Hornets, however, forced a turnover with two seconds left.
Alabama State sent the ball in from the opposite baseline, using a full-court pass with Knox possession and hitting the layup to win.
Alabama State got the first basket of the game but struggled early as Saint Francis led by five at the break as the Hornets shot 59% in the first half.
Alabama State got the game within a point during various points of the second half but it took four tries for the Hornets to take a lead with just over four minutes left. Saint Francis tied the game with just over 30 seconds to go.
Alabama State basketball uses late run to propel to lead
The Hornets got the game within a point three times in the second half, but each time Saint Francis had an answer. Then they finally were able to take the lead with just over four minutes left. They used a 6-0 run into the under-four timeout to take their first lead since scoring the opening basket. It started on an old-fashioned three-point play before CJ Hines hit a 3-pointer.
Alabama State gets off to a slow start
The Hornets offense struggled to get going early on, which as been a trend for the 344th team in the country in field-goal percentage. They started shooting 29% in the first four minutes and while that rose during the game Alabama State was playing from behind most of the way.
The slow start was compounded by the fact that Saint Francis shot 64% from the field in the first 13 minutes. It was the Hornets' 5 of 11 shooting from 3-point range that kept them in the game.
Free throws the difference for Hornets in first half
Saint Francis shot 10 free throws in the first half, making seven of them. That's seven more than the Hornets even shot, as they had no attempts from the charity stripe. Alabama State committed nine first half fouls with Saint Francis committing six.
The Hornets shot their first free throws with 5:09 left in the game.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Alabama State storms back to beat Saint Francis in March Madness First Four
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