HUNTSVILLE – Alabama A&M men's basketball (5-9, 1-0 SWAC) ended a three-game slide by opening the year with a 66-59 win against Southwestern Athletic Conference opponent Arkansas Pine-Bluff on Monday evening in a NCAA Division I men's basketball game.
 
While UAPB opened the game with a three on the opening possession, the Bulldogs heading into the first media timeout with a 4-3 lead after scores from Olisa Blaise Akonobi (Abuja, Nigeria). From there, the two teams traded scores over the next few possessions and took a 12-9 lead at the 12-minute mark.
 
The Bulldogs responded out of the break, eventually tying the game at 18-18 in a four-minute span behind a three from Lorenzo Downey (Nova Scotia, Canada) and a score from Garrett Hicks (Madison, Ala.), however A&M struggled to score over the next five minutes of play, finding themselves down 29-21 with 2:40 to play in the half.
 
Hicks ended the drought with a long range three with two minutes remaining and scored a few possessions later in the paint to pull the Bulldogs within a point at 29-28 at the half. They scored 16 points in the paint and led for just four minutes in the opening frame.
 
After going back-and-forth on the first few possessions of the second half, UAPB extended their lead to five heading into the first media timeout, and nine points at 48-39 after a three with just over 13 minutes remaining.
 
Trailing 53-46 with under 11 minutes to go, Alabama A&M made a run to take a 56-53 lead, including a dunk from Akonobi along with threes from Downey and Messiah Thompson (Atlanta, Ga.). The lead changed hands twice more before the final media timeout at the 2:25 mark, and the Bulldogs held the lead for the remaininder of the game for the 66-59 win.
 
A&M finished the game shooting 42.6 (26-for-61) from the floor, including 51.7 (15-for-29) percent in the second half and 50 (7-for-14) percent from three-point range in the win. They also outscored the Golden Lions in fast break points (11-4), points in the paint (38-20), and points off turnovers (26-17).
 
Four Bulldogs finished the game in double figures, led by Hicks with 19 points, seven rebounds, four assists and four steals. Meanwhile, Thompson finished with 14 points and six assists, followed by Akonobi and Downey with 13 and 12 points respectively.
 
Up Next
The Bulldogs are back in action on Wednesday, January 4 as they host Mississippi Valley State for their second SWAC game of the season. Tip-off for the contest is set for 7 p.m. in the Event Center.
 
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