Tag: ASUN

North Alabama’s KJ Johnson hit an improbable buzzer-beater while falling for ASUN tournament victory over old team

Who says March Madness has to wait for the NCAA tournament?

For an early taste in what March Madness is all about, the six-seeded North Alabama men’s basketball team won on a jaw-dropping buzzer-beater in its Atlantic Sun championship game at Lipscomb.

As the Lions got the ball back with just seconds on the clock, guard KJ Johnson took a prayer of a shot in the paint with tight defense on him to win it as the clock hit zero, 77-75.

What’s cool about the moment is that Johnson is from just outside of Nashville, Tennessee, where Lipscomb is located, and he played his first couple of seasons for the Bisons before transferring to North Alabama.

Johnson’s stunning heroics at the buzzer gave his team the upset road win to remember to advance in the ASUN tournament.

Watching the replay, we’re really not sure how Johnson got this shot off with such firm defense on him, but it just makes the basket all that more impressive.

It’s a tough loss for Lipscomb, who held the three seed, but a heck of a story for Johnson, the pride of Marshall County, as he returned home for the perfect victory.

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A dumb NCAA rule is the reason Bellarmine won’t make March Madness despite winning the ASUN tourney

A weird rule is keeping the Knights from the Big Dance.

The Bellarmine Knights defeated Jacksonville University in the ASUN Conference championship game, 77-72. They won’t, however, be going to the NCAA tournament thanks to a weird rule. Bellarmine made the jump to Division I on July 1 of 2020, moving all 22 varsity programs up from the lower division.

Since the men’s basketball team is within the four-year window of making the change up to D1, the Knights are not eligible for postseason play in the NCAA tournament this year.

Bellarmine stunned Liberty in the ASUN semifinals, and Jacksonville upset top-seeded Jacksonville State to set up Tuesday night’s title game. The Knights held off a late push by the Dolphins with strong free throw shooting, but they won’t get to celebrate like we’d all hope.

In the weirdest twist possible, the representative for the ASUN isn’t even Jacksonville. It’s Jacksonville State. Since the Dolphins fell in the championship to an ineligible team, the Gamecocks — which won the ASUN regular season — will take the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Bellarmine will finish with 20 wins at 20-13 overall in just their second D1 season.

According to the ESPN2 broadcast, they do get to claim the title and trophy that comes with being ASUN champs, just not the coveted auto-bid.

Come on, NCAA. Let Bellarmine dance.

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