The Norfolk State Spartans took home the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) title Saturday and punched their ticket to the NCAA tournament.
In a showdown between the MEAC's best teams, the top-seeded Spartans survived in a thriller against the two-seed South Carolina State Bulldogs. SC State gave a valiant effort, coming mere seconds from their first NCAA tournament appearance since 2003.
After trailing by 10 points with two minutes to play, the Bulldogs tied the game at 65 apiece with 10.6 seconds remaining off a forced turnover followed by a quick lay-in through traffic from Caleb McCarty. Adrenaline seemingly rushed too quickly through his veins after the basket, however, as he rushed to commit an intentional foul that put the Spartans on the free-throw line. A costly mistake after tying up the game.
You can see the wild sequence here:
SC State FOULS in a TIED game and loses the MEAC Championship 🤯pic.twitter.com/0l1W8OmZBm
— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) March 15, 2025
Norfolk State's Christian Ings made one of his two foul shots to put the Spartans back up 66-65. SC State had a final chance to win the game at the buzzer, but it came up just short.
You have to feel for McCarty as his squad played from behind throughout the final stretch. He ran off the fumes of an amazing play that flipped the game's context on a dime.
Norfolk State (23-10) earns their fourth all-time NCAA tournament appearance and their first since 2022. SC State finishes a great season at 20-12 and 11-3 in MEAC play, nearly earning a NCAA tournament bid for the first time in over 20 years.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as SC State's Comeback in MEAC Championship Falls Short After Errant Intentional Foul.
