A&M wins 66-65 over Tennessee State

Box Score

NORMAL – It was a night of first for the men's basketball team as head coach Willie Hayes and the Bulldogs earned their first victory over Tennessee State. Coach Hayes also posted his first victory in the state of Tennessee and his first road win of the 2013-14 season.

Jeremy Crutcher led the team with a season high 19 points while Tyler Davis posted 12 with Demarquellle Tabb collecting 12 points and eight rebounds. Jose Long finished with seven boards and five points in his 21 minutes of action.

The Tigers opened the scoring with a three point basket by Chaed Wellian. They then pushed it to a 5-0 lead until the 17:36 mark when Jeremy Crutcher connected on his first of two three pointers to put A&M on the board. The Maroon & White then took their first lead of the ball game on a Brandon Ellis three pointer at the 16:29 mark.

The lead exchanged hands on two more occasions before the Maroon & White would take control on a Justin Colvin three-pointer 17-16. AAMU used a 15-10 run from that point to close out the first half.

Crutcher made a buzzer-beater to end the first half. Its lead moved to 10 as the Bulldogs went on a 7-1 run to start the second.

The second half also saw the hot shooting Bulldogs push their lead to its largest point at 14 when Crutcher hit his second three pointer with 9:34 remaining.

It was at that point that the Tigers would rally to make it a contest.

Tennessee State ripped off seven points in the next 1:23 to close within eight, 56-48. TSU head coach Travis Williams and the Tigers then closed the A&M lead to six, 56-50, after a pair of Tiger freebies.

With Alabama A&M leading 61-53 and 4:44 left on the clock the Tigers made their move again. The Big Blue rattled off 10 straight points capped off by a Patrick Miller 3-pointer with 2:10 left on the clock to take its first lead of the half 63-61. In the stretch the Tigers scored five points from the free-throw line.

From there the clubs traded baskets to leave the game tied at 65 with just 52 seconds left on the clock. Tennessee State had the first crack at breaking the tie but a turnover gave A&M the ball with 37.5 seconds left. The Bulldogs drained the clock down to just five before Green Hill was fouled and headed to the line. Hill hit the first free-throw to put the Bulldogs up one.

The Tigers rebounded Hill's missed second free-throw with just 5.5 seconds left on the clock. TSU used a timeout to draw up a last stitch effort to win the game. Out of the stoppage Miller raced down the court heaving a last second shot that just rimmed out giving A&M the narrow 66-65 win.

This is the Bulldogs second win of the year as they improve to 2-4 overall.

A&M returns to action when they host cross-town rival Oakwood College in their final home game of 2013. The contest is set for 7 p.m. in Elmore gymnasium.

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