Alabama State wins the First Four with a last-second "quarterback" play.
DAYTON, Ohio After playing quarterback in middle school, Micah Simpson, a guard for Alabama State, switched to wide receiver and cornerback in high school in Tennessee.
"Flashback," Simpson remarked in the Hornets' locker room, grinning broadly.
When teammate Amarr Knox declared, "He is absolutely our quarterback,"
His long pass was twice rejected before it found Knox, who made a basket with a second remaining to give Alabama State a 70-68 victory. On Thursday in Lexington, Kentucky, the Hornets defeated Auburn, the top-seeded team in the South Region and the first overall seed, to progress to the NCAA tournament for the first time.
Knox, who scored 16 points to lead Alabama State, said, "He makes that pass on the money all the time in practice." "Today was flawless."
Simpson had already made contact with 6-foot-10 forward Jasteven Walker, who was the tallest starter for Alabama State. This time, however, his pass went through Walker's and TJ Madlock's hands before landing with Knox beneath the Saint Francis basket.
Madlock remarked, "I wanted to go get it, go make a play, and that is what I did, even though it was not supposed to go to me." However, it was intended for our big to receive it, not for me. It is March Madness, though. Anything can occur.
TJ's father, Tony Madlock, the coach at Alabama State, stated that his team practices situational components for 10 to 12 minutes before to every game. If the Hornets had opted for a shorter inbounds pass on Tuesday, they could have practiced half-court shots.
Madlock had choices for the last sequence, but he chose a play that did not have a high success rate.
He said, "Not that I have been engaged in," when asked if the play had previously been successful. "We put it into practice a lot."
Added Simpson: "Usually we just throw it, let the tall guy go get it, pass it to one of the shooters. But instead, we had it tipped up."
Alabama State trailed by as many as nine points and reduced the deficit to one point four times in the second half. A CJ Hines 3-pointer with 4:24 to play gave the Hornets their first lead since the 14:20 mark of the first half. But a frenetic sequence that featured two Saint Francis 3-pointers and a turnover left the game deadlocked.
A Hornets team that won all three of its SWAC tournament games by five points or fewer was comfortable making another clutch play.
"All of our games end just like this," Tony Madlock said.
Madlock played with and later coached for Penny Hardaway at Memphis. In 1992, they helped then-Memphis State to the Elite Eight as players. The two friends recently spoke during Madlock's ride to work, reminiscing about their journey.
"Both of us are taking our teams to the Dance, and it's just a special moment," Madlock said.
His team will now face Auburn, the SEC heavyweight located only about 50 miles from Alabama State's campus. In a college basketball season where the Alabama schools have been front and center, the Hornets have a chance for the biggest upset.
Alabama State has faced Auburn only six times, most recently last season in a 20-point loss, and will seek its first win over the Tigers.
"We're going to have this bus ride a couple hours down the road to play in Lexington at Rupp Arena," Madlock said. "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."
