Alabama State stuns Saint Francis for last-second First Four victory
March 19 - DAYTON, Ohio -- Amarr Knox grabbed a loose ball on a length-of-the-court heave and put in the game-winning layup with one second remaining to lift Alabama State to a thrilling 70-68 win over Saint Francis Tuesday night in the First Four.
Knox scored a team-high 16 points and TJ Madlock, son of head coach Tony Madlock, finished with 11 points and seven rebounds for Alabama State (20-15). The Hornets grabbed the No. 16 seed in the South Region and advanced to play Auburn, the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, this Thursday in Lexington, Ky.
Saint Francis' Daemar Kelly fouled Madlock on a scramble for the ball near the far sideline with 11.8 seconds remaining. Madlock missed the front end of the 1-and-1 free throw opportunity.
The miss led to a frantic scene at midcourt as Saint Francis clambered to get the ball downcourt for a chance to win the game in regulation. But Juan Cranford Jr. dribbled the ball out of bounds and Alabama State had one more chance to win the game. Micah Simpson (nine points) made the football-style pass from the Hornets' baseline.
Cranford, a Dayton native, led Saint Francis (16-18) with 18 points and eight rebounds. Valentino Pinedo added 17 points and Riley Parker had 12.
The game was filled with many frenetic moments in the final three minutes.
Knox hit an acrobatic floating runner while falling out of bounds to break a 62-62 tie and give the Alabama State the lead with 2:07 remaining.
Saint Francis appeared to be on its way to its first-ever NCAA Tournament win, building a nine-point first-half lead before Alabama State rallied in the second half.
Cranford scored 13 points in the first half, helping the Red Flash to a 39-34 halftime lead.
The Red Flash shot a torrid 59.1 percent (13-of-22) from the floor in the first half while the Hornets made just 14 of their 33 attempts (42.4 percent).
Saint Francis saw its season end the way it began, losing on the same University of Dayton Arena court where the season opened with an 87-57 loss to Dayton on Nov. 4.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scottish Sun
2 days ago
- Scottish Sun
Who is playing in the Baller League final?
FINAL COUNTDOWN Who is playing in the Baller League final? Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) BALLER LEAGUE is coming to its captivating conclusion - and one side will finally get their hands on the first-ever title. The influence-led league, headlined by KSI, saw former Premier League stars, futsal players and celebrities face each other in a 12-team group stage format. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 2 Alan Shearer (L) and Micah Richards (M)- two out of the three Deportrio managers Credit: Getty And the indoor six-a-side tournament has consistently kept fans on the edge of their seats by providing bags of entertainment from Matchday 1. Deportrio which is managed by footballing icons Alan Shearer, Micah Richards and Gary Lineker currently top the leaderboards and are heavy favourites to win it. But they've been given a run for their money by second-place MVPs United who are being led by popular TV host Maya Jama and Swiss footballer Alisha Lehmann. However, those two above are not the only sides that can make it in the highly anticipated final. Read more on Baller League SEEING RED Troy Deeney SENT OFF just minutes into return to football Who is in the Baller League final? The two teams that will feature in the Baller League final will be decided once the semi-final matches have been contested. Deportrio, led by Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer and Micah Richards, topped the standings on goal difference after 11 rounds of action-packed fixtures. Alisha Lehmann and Maya Jama's MVP United narrowly missed out on top spot by one goal, but they have secured their place in the final four. Yanited and SDS FC complete the sides competing for Baller League glory next Thursday night - and fans are treated to even more thrilling action at the O2. Here are the semi-final fixtures: Semi-final 1: Deportrio vs SDS FC Semi-final 2: MVPs United vs Yanited Final: SF1 winner vs SF2 winner 2 What are the rules? Leading up to the big final day, in the event two teams are tied after 11 matches, the order will be first decided by goal difference, then goals scored, followed by the result between the two sides in question. If, after these three stipulations, the two sides are still level, a shootout will determine who progresses. IHowever, in the event of a draw in the Final Four after the regular 30 minutes, a penalty shootout is held in which each team initially provides three takers. What do you get for winning the Baller League final? Besides lifting the title, it has not been revealed what the winning team would earn from being crowned champions of the UK Baller League. However, reports suggest that players earn £400 for every match that they participate in. So doing the maths, any player that played in all 11 group stage matches, the semi-final and then the final, would earn a minimum of £5200.
Reuters
31-05-2025
- Reuters
Michael Earley to be retained as Aggies' head baseball coach
May 31 - Texas A&M Director of Athletics Trev Alberts announced today that first-year head baseball coach Michael Earley would return to College Station for the 2025-26 academic year. "Earlier today, I met with Coach Earley to discuss the state of our baseball program. I appreciate Mike's work in taking a holistic view of what changes need to be made so that we have a baseball program that meets our high standards," Alberts said. "Baseball success is critically important to Texas A&M. I am confident in Mike's ability to execute the needed change and fully support his vision going forward." Earley took over for Jim Schlossnagle, who guided the Aggies to a pair of College World Series appearances in his three seasons at the helm. In 2024, Texas A&M made it to the championship finals, but fell in three games (2-1) to national champion Tennessee. Schlossnagle took the University of Texas head coaching position one day after the decisive third game and Earley, the program's hitting coach, was elevated to the top spot in the dugout. Texas A&M was the consensus No. 1 pick in the preseason, but struggled to a 30-26 record, which included a 11-19 mark and 14th place finish in the SEC. The Aggies failed to earn an NCAA Tournament bid for just the second time since 2007. The nucleus of the team is expected to return, but Alberts did not address the statuses of hitting coach Caleb Longley and pitching coach Jason Kelly. --Field Level Media
Reuters
30-05-2025
- Reuters
NCAA president weighing tournament expansion to 76 teams
March Madness could soon become even bigger, if Charlie Baker has his way. Speaking Thursday during the Big 12 spring meetings, the NCAA president said he sees value in expanding the NCAA Tournament to potentially 76 teams with hopes of coming to a decision on the matter in the next few months. "We've had good conversations with CBS and WBD (Warner Bros. Discover)," Baker said. "Our goal here is to try to sort of get to either yes or no sometime in the next few months because there's a lot of logistical work that would be associated with doing this. "If we were to go down this road, you just think about the opening weekends, who has to travel the longest, it gets complicated." The tournament field expanded from 65 teams to 68 in 2011, creating the First Four round that pits the two lowest-seeded at-large teams against one another as well as the two lowest-seeded conference champions for a chance to reach the traditional 64-team bracket. Baker said he has discussed growing the field to 72 or even 76 teams. As the NCAA president put it, the current format contains flaws, noting that even with 68 teams in the field, there are still some who believe their teams were snubbed. "The point behind going from 68 to 72 or 76," Baker said, "is to basically give some of those schools that were probably among the 72, 76, 68, 64 best teams in the country a way into the tournament." Kansas coach Bill Self said Big 12 coaches favor expansion. His conference featured seven tournament entrants in 2025, compared with 14 boasted by the SEC. "There was a little bit that was brought forth and the consensus among the coaches, even though it was very little, would be in favor of that," Self said. "I don't know if you could make it where it was totally equitable all the way across the board for everybody. Certainly, there's going to be outliers on every situation." --Field Level Media
