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03/22 00:43 CDT Bryant guard Earl Timberlake gives the Bulldogs their One
Bloody Moment in March Madness
Bryant guard Earl Timberlake gives the Bulldogs their One Bloody Moment in
March Madness
By WILL GRAVES
AP Sports Writer
CLEVELAND (AP) --- Earl Timberlake's toughness is no secret to his Bryant
teammates.
Facing Michigan State in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament late Friday
night, Timberlake offered a glimpse of it to the rest of the college basketball
world.
The senior guard and American East Player of the Year took an elbow to the
forehead from Spartans center Carson Cooper that left Timberlake's face awash
in blood. He exited briefly before returning with a white bandage in place and
finished with 14 points, five assists and four rebounds in his final college
game.
"If him walking off the floor covered in blood isn't a ?One Shining Moment'
clip, I don't know what is," Bulldogs coach Phil Martelli Jr. said.
Timberlake acknowledged his head was ringing as he answered questions following
an 87-62 loss. The 6-foot-6 Timberlake got tangled with the 6-11 Cooper while
scrambling for a rebound. He fell briefly to the floor as officials whistled
Cooper for a loose-ball foul.
When Timberlake sat up, he could tell something was wrong.
"Next thing I know, I'm leaking from my face," Timberlake said. "After that,
I'm just thinking, 'How do I hurry up and get this thing taken care of so I can
get back out there for my team?'"
Timberlake, who averaged 15.5 points and a team-high 8.2 rebounds for the
American East champions, missed about four minutes of game time while getting
stitched up.
Martelli, who led the Rhode Island school to its second-ever NCAA appearance in
his second year as head coach, wasn't really sure what happened at first. When
he saw Timberlake being tended to by trainers, he didn't waste a lot of time
worrying if Timberlake was going to return.
"My thought was, "'He'll clean it up and be right back,'" Martelli said. "And
he cleaned it up and he was right back. That's Earl Timberlake."
Timberlake came back with just over 4 minutes to go in the first half and
stayed on the floor until ultimately checking out for good with less than 3
minutes left and the game decided. He put a towel over his head and had an
extended embrace with Bryant assistant coach Chris Cole to cap three years with
the Bulldogs that helped him rediscover his passion for basketball.
"A lot of people don't know I was in a very dark place a couple years ago
coming from different schools," said Timberlake, who played at Miami and
Memphis before coming to Bryant. "I didn't even want to play basketball no
more. I just thank them for helping me get the love back for the game."
___
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