HUNTSVILLE __The Alabama A&M men’s basketball program used a huge second half to earn the 71-61 win over Alcorn in Elmore Gymnasium on Saturday night.
The freshmen backcourt led the Bulldogs, with Cameron Alford recording his third double-double of the year with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Cameron Tucker scoring 16 points along with three rebounds, while Garrett Hicks added 15 points and eight rebounds and senior Evan Wiley rounded out the double-digit scorers with 13 points in the win.
First Half
- After a scoreless first three minutes to open the game, the Bulldogs nailed two free throws at the 16:49 mark to start the scoring of the game, before Alcorn took a 3-2 lead early on going into the under 16-minute timeout.
- Alcorn went on to take a 10-4 lead with 13:31 to play on an offensive tip in, before A&M responded with a 9-4 run capped by a lay in by forward Jalen Johnson to put the game at 14-13 with just over nine minutes to play.
- The Braves proceeded to stretch their lead over the next few minutes, pushing their lead to double-digits and 11 points at 24-13, before another response by the Bulldogs to bring the game back within single digits at 26-20 with 5:34 to play.
- The two teams traded baskets for the remainder of the second half, with the Bulldogs heading into the locker room trailing 36-28.
- Garrett Hicks led the Bulldogs in the first half with 11 points on 5-for-8 shooting, while Evan Wiley had seven points on 2-for-3 from shots behind the arc.
Second Half
- Alabama A&M scored the first basket out of the break and added a free throw to make the score 36-31 in the first two minutes of the second half.
- The Bulldogs continued to pound the ball inside, scoring their next four baskets all in the painted area, and tied the game at 39 with just under 16 minutes to go.
- After a score by Alcorn, the Bulldogs began on a 10-0 run and tied the game again at 41 with 13:48 to go in the game on a fast break score, followed by three more A&M paint scores, including a huge dunk by Hicks to give A&M the final lead change of the contest.
- The Braves snapped the run and their five-minute scoring drought with just over ten to play, and pulled the game to four points at 51-47 at the 7:52 mark.
- Holding onto a four-point lead, the Bulldogs remained in control and ended the game outscoring the Braves 20-14, including a 10-for-12 free throw performance by Cameron Tucker to end the ball game and claim the 71-61 victory.
Post-Game Notes
- Alabama A&M Starters: Cameron Tucker, Garrett Hicks, Cameron Alford, Jalen Johnson, EJ Williams.
- The Bulldogs shot 23-for-52 (44.2 percent) from the field as a team for the game, 4-for-12 (33.3 percent) from the three-point line and 21-for-30 from the charity stripe (70 percent).
- Alabama A&M won the battle in the paint, outscoring Alcorn in the lane 30-18 in the contest. A&M won the rebounding battle 40-28.
- The Bulldogs grabbed 11 offensive rebounds, and scored 12 second chance points. Alcorn scored six second chance points off of five offensive boards of their own.
- The Braves bench outscored the Bulldog bench in the matchup, producing 16 points to the 13 scored by A&M.
- Turnovers: Alcorn won the turnover battle, scoring eight points off of 10 Bulldog turnovers, while A&M scored 13 points off of 12 Brave turnovers.
Up Next
The Bulldogs will play at home on Monday as they host Southern at 7:30 p.m. before hitting the road for the last regular season road trip of the year in Texas as they play Texas Southern on Feb. 29 and Prairie View A&M on Mar. 2, also both at 7:30 p.m.
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