TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Center Olisa Blaise Akonobi (Abuja, Nigeria) led Alabama A&M with a game-high 17 points in a 61-56 win over Florida A&M in men's Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) action on Saturday afternoon inside the Al Lawson Center.
 
Alabama A&M (8-13, 4-4 SWAC) jumped out to a 10-3 lead early in the contest off a trio of scores from Blaise Akonobi and a three from Dailin Smith (Colorado Springs, Co.).
 
The Rattlers closed the gap to 11-8 with a three-pointer at the 12:28 mark, however the Bulldogs answered with four straight points to go up 15-8 two minutes later. From there, the home team fought back again, getting within two with just over eight minutes left and again with 5:51 to play at 19-17.
 
On the next trip down, EJ Williams (Cincinnati, Ohio) scored inside plus the foul on an assist from Austin Harvell (Athens, Ala.) and followed it with another layup off a turnover to put the Bulldogs up 25-17 with 4:42 to go in the half.
 
Florida A&M climbed back to within three twice at 27-24 and later 29-26 after a score inside with just over two minutes to play, before Xavier Brewer (Atlanta, Ga.) split a pair of free throws followed by a layup from Omari Peek (Cincinnati, Ohio) helped the Bulldogs take a 32-26 into the half.
 
Garrett Hicks (Madison, Ala.) got A&M on the board at the 18:05 mark in the second to make the score 34-30, after the Rattlers opened the half with four unanswered after a pair of scores inside to reduce the lead to a single score game prior to the basket. Hicks hit a three minutes later to gain a 38-32 edge coming out of the first media timeout, sparking a run that gave the Bulldogs their first double-digit lead at 43-32 with 12:42 to play.
 
After the second break at the 10:36 mark, Lorenzo Downey (Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada) put A&M up 11 again with a score inside seconds later. The Bulldogs maintained their lead over a stretch of just over three minutes, as the Rattlers cut the lead to seven with a three to make it 50-43 with six and a half to go.
 
Alabama A&M eventually regained a double figure lead at 55-45 after a three-point play from Blaise Akonobi with just over four minutes to play, however the home team continued to fight back, landing within three at 59-56 with just 36 seconds remaining. After timeouts on both sides, Messiah Thompson (Atlanta, Ga.) hit Blaise Akonobi for a final score to secure the 61-56 win.
 
The Bulldogs finished the game shooting 44.9 (22-for-49) percent overall from the floor and just 16.7 (2-for-12) percent from long range on the day. Meanwhile, the Rattlers finished the game with splits of 33.3 (18-for-54) percent from the field, 36.4 (8-for-22) percent from three, and 80 (12-for-15) percent from the free throw line.

Hicks and Peak were the other double figure scorers for the Bulldogs, as Hicks scored 11 points along with three rebounds and a steal, while Peek added ten points and two boards in the win.
 
Noah Meren led Florida A&M with 15 points, followed by Dimingus Stevens and Byron Smith with 12 and ten points respectively.
 
Up Next
Alabama A&M remains in the state of Florida for their next matchup as they face Bethune-Cookman on Monday night at 7:30 p.m. inside of Moore Gymnasium.
 
Follow The Bulldogs
Stay connected with Alabama A&M Men's Basketball on Instagram and Twitter (@Bulldogs_Hoops). For complete coverage of Alabama A&M athletics, follow on social media at @aamuathletics (Instagram) and @AAMUBulldogs on Twitter, and visit the official home of Alabama A&M University athletics at www.aamusports.com.