AL.com Original Story
It doesn't matter who Alabama A&M coach Willie Hayes points at on the bench and beckons into the game, chances are he'll have had worthwhile experience this season.
The Bulldogs (10-19 overall and 6-12 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference) have utilized various starting lineups throughout the season, heading into their matchup against Grambling State (La.) in the league tournament's opening round at 8 p.m. in Garland, Texas Wednesday. Eleven of A&M's 14 players have started multiple games this season. It's something that could bode well for a team that needs to win three games in four days to advance to the Big Dance.
"It's an advantage because I feel like now guys know their role," junior guard/forward Brandon Ellis said. "When they come off the bench, they're comfortable when they come into the game because they've already started or played the majority of the minutes in a game."
Ellis, a 6-foot-3, 200-pound junior from Loxley, is third on the team in scoring, averaging 10.7 points per game to go along with 3.3 boards, has been one of the sixth-seeded Bulldogs most consistent starters this season. He's started 27 of the 28 games he's played in. Guard Jeremy Crutcher has started in 26 of the 28 games he's seen action in.
Hayes even brought junior forward Demarquelle Tabb, the SWAC's leading-rebounder and a second-team all-conference choice off the bench for a while earlier in the season, in an effort to keep him out of out of foul trouble and provide a spark off the bench.
Wednesday, Hayes said, he'll start Crutcher and Ellis at the guards to go along with Tabb, sophomore Jose Long and and 7-1 junior Justan Banks.
"I just like the way that they control the offense," Hayes said of the lineup. "We're moving the ball. We're more patient. On the offensive end, we're executing better. The last four games, I think our execution has been great with that lineup."
It will be the 11th start of the season for Long, who's averaging three points and three boards a game, and the 25thfor Banks. Banks struggled for most of the second half of the season but has come on strong the past two games, averaging nine points and nine rebounds.
"Justan Banks is really key," Ellis said. "If he gives us production, rebounding, easy put backs and offensive rebounds, that's making us more efficient on offense. It's hard to guard a 7-footer and when you have that, it's just a luxury.
The Bulldogs swept No. 7 Grambling, the only winless team in all of Division I, in the regular season but have lost four of their last five, heading into the tournament, However, Hayes said he feels good about the way his team has been playing lately.
Three of those defeats, at home against regular season champion Texas Southern, ineligible for postseason play due to NCAA violations, and fourth-seeded Prairie View A&M (Texas) and on the road against No. 2 Jackson State (Miss.), came by nine points combined.
"I guess that's why I'm feeling good about this tournament. The three games we've lost have been against the top teams in the conference and we played them down to the last-second shot," Hayes said. "Playing those teams close down the stretch, guys kind of see that we're there. We've just got to get past that one or two little mistakes toward the end of the game to try and win this tournament."
Nick Birdsong covers HBCU sports for al.com. He can be reached at 205-325-2327 or nbirdsong@al.com. Follow him on Twitter @birds_word.
