For the first time in program history, the Alabama State men’s basketball team has won an NCAA Tournament game.

On Tuesday night, the 16th-seeded Hornets (20-5, 12-6 SWAC) defeated 16th-seeded Saint Francis (16-18, 8-9 NEC) by a final score of 70-68 at UD Arena in Dayton, Ohio. The game was part of the First Four, meaning the teams were competing for the right to take on top-seeded Auburn.

Just keep dancing 🕺#SWARMAS1 | @MarchMadnessMBB pic.twitter.com/OEUU7YtXk8

— Bama State Athletics (@BamaStateSports) March 19, 2025

Alabama State had previously appeared in four editions of March Madness but had come up empty-handed each time, losing to Michigan State in 2001, Duke in 2004, Morehead State in 2009, and UTSA in 2011. The Hornets finally got over the hump thanks to the efforts of sophomore guard Amarr Knox, who converted a frantic game-winner set up by an improbable full-court pass.

ALABAMA STATE TAKES A LEAD IN THE FINAL SECOND 😱#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/TktQHBcwo9

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 19, 2025

Knox finished the night with a team-high 16 points, but none were more important than his final two.

“We wanted to throw the ball long, and we put our tallest athletic person to go get the ball,” Knox said. “Fortunately, everybody took the ball, and it landed on me. I got the rebound and made the layup, but I couldn’t have done it without my whole team. We executed a play that we practiced all day in practice and our game plan, and it worked.”

“We go over a lot of situational stuff in practice,” senior guard TJ Madlock said of junior guard Micah Simpson, who made the pass that led to Knox’s buzzer-beater. “[Simpson] is the one throwing it in practice every single day. So he’s used to that pass. He was ready for the moment, and we executed it perfectly.”

“[Simpson] was definitely a quarterback,” Knox said. “He makes that pass on the money all the time in practice, and it was perfect today.”

For a brief moment in the first half, it seemed unlikely that the Hornets would even be in position to attempt a game-winner. Following a back-and-forth opening stanza that saw the two teams trade razor-thin leads, Saint Francis began to pull away at the 4:44 mark after junior guard Riley Parker turned an ASU turnover into a mid-range jumper. 30 seconds later, freshman guard Juan Cranford Jr. drained a contested three-pointer to increase his team’s advantage to 32-26. Two more Parker and Cranford buckets further cushioned the Red Flash lead, putting SFU up 39-30 with 1:12 left in the half.

But the Hornets clawed back into the game behind the efforts of their backcourt. Knox used a hesitation move to shake free for an open two-pointer that cut ASU’s deficit to seven, and Madlock tossed in a last-second jumper to make the score 39-34 headed into the locker room.

TJ Madlock cuts the Red Flash lead down to 5 with a bucket just before the half 🪣#MarchMadness @BamaStateSports pic.twitter.com/cUcVjSrwiW

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 18, 2025

On the other side of the break, a flurry of two-pointers kept Alabama State within striking distance before a Simpson triple with 12:15 left on the clock brought the Hornets within one point of Saint Francis.

“We’ve been in that moment, in that situation a few times this year,” Knox said. “We knew we just had to come out and play ball, and we stayed positive. We knew that as soon as the next half started we were going to come out, fly around, play aggressively, and do whatever it takes to win the game.”

“We know it’s a game of runs,” Madlock added. “We knew early we weren’t playing good, and it might have been because of a little nerves. So once we got through with that, we knew all we had to do was go out there and play our game.”

The Hornets spent the next eight minutes playing catch-up, inching ever closer to their opponents but failing to take the lead until senior guard CJ Hines hit a pivotal three-pointer in the moments leading up to the game’s final media timeout. With the scoreboard reading 62-60, ASU had surged in front for the first time since the 14:20 mark of the first half.

"MAYBE THE BIGGEST SHOT OF HIS LIFE" 🗣️

CJ Hines gives the Hornets the lead! 🔥#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/H9hNpzebAU

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 19, 2025

It was now the Red Flash’s turn to play from behind. A jumper by Knox and a strip-and-score by senior guard Micah Octave put the Hornets up 66-62 at 1:44 and sent the Dayton crowd into a frenzy.

THE HORNETS ARE BUZZING IN DAYTON 🐝#MarchMadness @BamaStateSports pic.twitter.com/fVIT6CJUKg

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 19, 2025

However, clutch triples by Cranford and junior guard Chris Moncrief tied the game at 68 with 40 seconds remaining. A subsequent scramble for the ball ended in a trip to the charity stripe for Madlock, but the guard left his free throw attempt well short of the rim. Saint Francis rushed up the court but committed a backbreaking turnover that set up Alabama State’s miraculous heave.

“First time winning a tournament game. Got to 20 wins this year,” ASU head coach Tony Madlock said in the game’s wake. “You know how hard that is for an HBCU school? It’s so hard because you have to play those money games early. But for us to just fight and fight and fight and find a way to get to 20 wins, it just means so much to our program, to the city of Montgomery, to Alabama State University.”

“We just want to make that city proud.”

Alabama State will move on to face Auburn at 1:50 PM CDT on Thursday in Lexington, Kentucky. The game will be televised on CBS.