Earl Timberlake’s toughness is well-known among his Bryant teammates, but on Friday night, during the NCAA Tournament’s opening round against Michigan State, he showed it to the entire college basketball world.
The senior guard and America East Player of the Year took a brutal elbow to the forehead from Spartans center Carson Cooper, leaving his face covered in blood. After briefly exiting to tend to his injury, Timberlake returned with a white bandage and went on to finish with 14 points, five assists, and four rebounds in what would be his final college game.
Bryant coach Phil Martelli Jr. remarked, “If him walking off the floor covered in blood isn’t a ‘One Shining Moment’ clip, I don’t know what is.”
Despite the injury, Timberlake admitted that his head was ringing after the game, which ended in an 87-62 loss. The 6-foot-6 Timberlake had gotten tangled with the 6-foot-11 Cooper while fighting for a rebound, briefly falling to the floor before officials called Cooper for a loose-ball foul.
When Timberlake sat up, he immediately knew something was off.
“Next thing I know, I’m leaking from my face,” Timberlake shared. “After that, I was just focused on figuring out how to get this taken care of quickly so I could get back out there for my team.”
Timberlake, who averaged 15.5 points and a team-high 8.2 rebounds for the America East champions, missed about four minutes of play while getting stitches.
Martelli, who guided the Rhode Island school to its second-ever NCAA appearance in his second year as head coach, wasn’t sure what had happened at first. When he saw Timberlake being treated by trainers, he didn’t spend much time worrying about whether Timberlake would return to the game.
“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 returned to the game with just over 4 minutes remaining in the first half and stayed on the floor until the final moments, checking out with less than 3 minutes left when the outcome was already decided. He put a towel over his head and shared a heartfelt moment with Bryant assistant coach Chris Cole, marking the end of his three years with the Bulldogs, a time that helped him rediscover his love for basketball.
“A lot of people don’t know I was in a very dark place a couple of years ago after transferring from different schools,” Timberlake said. “I didn’t even want to play basketball anymore. I just thank them for helping me get my love for the game back.”
