DAYTON, Ohio — Amarr Knox‘s layup with a second left lifted Alabama State to its first NCAA tournament win Tuesday night, 70-68 over Saint Francis in a matchup of No. 16 seeds at the First Four.
Knox scored 16 points to help the Hornets earn a date with No. 1 overall seed Auburn on Thursday in a South Region game at Lexington, Kentucky.
Saint Francis, which lost its season opener at Dayton, made an unlikely return to the same arena as the 19th team to enter the NCAA tournament with a losing record. Those teams are now 0-19.
After forcing a turnover in the final seconds, Alabama State had the ball out of bounds under its own basket. With the score tied, Micah Simpson threw a long pass nearly the length of the court toward a scrum of players in the lane at the other end — not unlike a Hail Mary in football.
The ball deflected off a teammate and right into Knox’s hands near the rim, giving him a simple layup for the winning bucket.
Micah Octave‘s steal and dunk put Alabama State ahead by four with 1:36 left, but the Red Flash tied the score at 68 on Chris Moncrief‘s 3-pointer with 40 seconds remaining.
Juan Cranford Jr., playing in his hometown, led Saint Francis with 18 points. Valentino Pinedo scored 17 for the Red Flash (16-18), who led by as many as nine.
Alabama State (20-15) is making its fifth NCAA tournament appearance.
Saint Francis shot 59% and went 6-of-12 from 3-point range to take a 39-34 lead into halftime.
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