HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – The Otis Hughley era at Alabama A&M (0-0, 0-0 SWAC) opened with a 95-79 come-from-behind exhibition victory over neighboring Oakwood (0-1) in an NCAA Division men's basketball game on Thursday, November 3.
 
Senior guard Garrett Hicks (Madison, Ala.) led the way with 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting, including 3-of-6 from beyond the arc, along with five assists and five boards to pace the Bulldogs. He was joined by junior forward Dailin Smith (Colorado Springs, Colo.) with 21 points, three triples, four steals, three blocks and four caroms and sophomore guard Lorenzo Downey (Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada) added 11 points.
 
Junior guard Omari Peek (Cincinnati, Ohio) and redshirt-sophomore Eric Lee (Tampa, Fla.) each added 10 points and sophomore forward Austin Harvell (Athens, Ala.) hauled in nine boards to round out the top performers.
 
A&M jumped out to a 9-3 lead over the first three minutes and would hold a 17-9 advantage by the 13:52 mark. The Ambassadors responded with an 8-0 run to knot it up but a 7-2 stretch, capped by a fastbreak dunk by Smith, gave the Bulldogs back the lead at 24-19 with 8:23 on the clock. At that point Oakwood's offense came to life with a commanding 11-0 run that flipped the script and put them up 30-24 less than four minutes later.
 
A traditional three-point play by Smith cut that lead in half and the clubs would stay within four the rest of the half before ending up with the Ambassadors holding a 39-38 lead at the break.
 
They would then trade the first four buckets of the second half and that would turn into seven lead changes and a pair of ties over a nearly five-minute span. That left OU with a narrow 60-59 advantage at the 12:44 mark but the tide would turn and turn quickly.
 
Hicks and Downey connected from long range and notched six points apiece as they fueled a crushing 16-4 run that put them ahead to stay at 77-64 with just under eight minutes to play. The Ambassadors would close to within eight with a 5-0 burst but no more as Alabama A&M coasted to the rest of the way to the 95-79 exhibition victory.
 
Edmond Stewart notched a double-double of 14 points and 12 boards to power Oakwood while Judelin Prophete added 12 points. A'Drelin Robinson finished with eight points and a game-high six assists and Nicholas Kennard, Christopher Davis and steven Aroh each had seven points. Robert Booker rounded out the top performances with eight points, five caroms and a pair of steals.
 
The Bulldogs return to action in a week's time as they open the regular season against in-state neighbor North Alabama on Thursday, November 10. Game time is set for 7 p.m. at Elmore Gymnasium.

FULL GAME VIDEO