Bulldogs capture Third Win with 59-47 stomping of Missouri State

Box Score
NORMAL -- Alabama A&M secured their third win of the year with a 59-47 victory over Missouri State Tuesday evening.

In a game that saw a turnover by the home team before the clock even started the Bulldogs managed to pull away from the Bears of Missouri State to take a 59-47 win Tuesday evening. The victory gives A&M a 3-1 record at home and momentum going into their final non-conference games of the year.

“We did a great job rebounding and on the defensive end,” said head coach Willie Hayes. “Any time you have guys in double figure rebounds it gives you a great opportunity to win.”

Junior Demarquelle Tabb lead the Bulldogs with 16 points and 14 rebounds for his 12^th double double of his career and third this season. Point guard Jeremy Crutcher added 12 points and eight assists with no turnovers for the first time this season in a contest. Junior forward Brandon Ellis scored his season average of 10 points while seven foot center Justan Banks pulled in 11 boards.

Crutcher set the tone of the game with a three pointer at the 18:59 mark to give A&M their first lead. Ellis pushed it to 6-0 with a three of his own to follow. From there the Bears and the Bulldogs traded baskets with the Maroon and White taking a six point lead at the 10:04 mark 17-11. In the final seconds of the first half A&M held a 24-22 lead until MSU’s Gavin Thurman hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to give Missouri State their third lead 25-24.

“That has happened to us a few times this year. We would be down by a few points then the opposing team would hit a three pointer before half-time to take the momentum at the break,” Hayes mentioned. “I told the team don’t let this predicate what we do in the second half, the first few minutes are very important.”

That message got across to the A&M players as they went on a 13-2 run in the first five minutes to take the final lead of the game and never looked back 37-27. Missouri State would threaten a few times cutting the lead to single digits in six separate occasions but AAMU was always able to hit a shot that gave them a double digit lead again. Alabama A&M then took their largest lead of the game by 15 points with 2:07 remaining to cruise to their third victory in 2012.

The Bulldogs commanded the paint out-scoring MSU 24-12. They also outscored the Bears in second chance points 8-4. Missouri State did win the bench battle by out playing A&M to the tune of 16-7.
Marcus Marshall led the Bears with 16 points and four rebounds.

A&M will gear up for the road for the remaining non-conference games, this time they will head to Little Rock, Arkansas to face the Razorbacks of the University of Arkansas in the Verizon Center. The game is set for Saturday, December 22^nd at 7 p.m.

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