Tide's Riley reflects on Friday's ordeal in Atlanta

During Alabama’s second-round SEC Tournament game against Mississippi State on Friday night, Crimson Tide junior Mykal Riley came through with a 3-point basket at the buzzer to tie the game at 59 and send it to overtime.

It was a big play, no doubt, but just how big no one knew until later.

With 2:11 left to play in the overtime period and Mississippi State clinging to a 62-61 lead, the game was stopped after a tornado ripped trough downtown Atlanta and caused damage to the Georgia Dome.

Both teams were sent to their respective locker rooms while SEC officials gathered to figure out whether or not to move forward with the game.

That’s when Riley began thinking about what had actually happened and the magnitude of it.

“We were talking about it in the locker room during the delay,” Riley said. “I think it was Brandon Hollinger who brought it up and he and Ron Steele were saying that if we weren’t in overtime, some people could be dead or injured and then everybody started talking about it [in the locker room].”

About 18,000 fans were inside the Georgia Dome when the tornado hit. Had the game not gone into overtime, most of those fans would have exited the building and been in the direct path of the tornado.

I’ve been thinking about it, Riley said. “I couldn’t sleep last night because I kept thinking about it. A lot of people could be dead if that [3-point shot] hadn’t happened. I believe it was God. I keep thinking about how the ball just rolled in. It was supposed to happen so that no one would be hurt. I believe God had His hand in that to protect the people who were in the Dome.”

The tornado, with wind up to 130 mph, cut a 6-mile path through downtown Atlanta, smashing hundreds of windows in and around the CNN Center, blowing furniture and luggage out of hotel rooms and crumbling part of an apartment building. At least 27 people were hurt, though no injuries was believed to be life-threatening, and no injuries were reported at the Georgia Dome or at Phillips Arena, where 16,000 fans were in attendance for an Atlanta Hawks game.

After a 64-minute delay, the Tide and Bulldogs resumed their game, with the Bulldogs winning, 69-67. Riley almost came up big again at the buzzer of the overtime period, but his 3-point attempt rimmed out.

Riley finished with 18 points to lead the Tide’s scoring.

— Sports editor Cecil Hurt and The Associated Press contributed to this report