MOBILE, Ala. | Dailin Smith finished with a team-high 19 points, but it wasn't enough as the Alabama A&M University men's basketball team fell, 72-55, to rival Alabama State in a Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) game in the Bridge Builder Classic on Monday at the Mitchell Center.
Alabama A&M (3-15 overall, 2-3 SWAC), which played its fifth game in 10 days, went through a stretch of more than nine minutes without a bucket in the first half and closed the deficit to two points (29-27) early in the second period. However, Alabama State (9-9, 4-1) pulled away with a 12-0 run and didn't look back.
Smith scored 11 of his 19 points in the second half and went 5-for-7 from the floor and 7-of-8 from the free-throw line in pacing Alabama A&M. In addition, he recorded two rebounds and a pair of steals.
Cameron Tucker chipped in eight points, a team-high seven boards, two assists and one blocked shot.
Isaiah Range led Alabama State with 20 points, one rebound and one steal, while Amarr Knox registered nine points, two boards, two assists and two steals.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Both teams got off to a very slow start as the Hornets grabbed a 7-6 advantage after a Sean Smith jumper with 12:41 remaining in the opening half.
Alabama A&M went cold from the floor, going more than nine minutes without a field goal as Alabama State used 7-1 run, capped by a second-chance layup by Jasteven Walker as the Hornets took a 14-8 lead with 9:45 left.
A dunk by
Darius Osborne ended the scoring drought for the Bulldogs as Alabama A&M trimmed the margin to 14-10 with just over eight minutes to play.
The Bulldogs closed the gap to 17-13 after a Smith layup with 5:53 remaining, but the Hornets answered, using a 10-4 run, capped by a triple by Range, to extend the lead to 27-17 with 3:10 left.
Alabama A&M closed the half strong as
AC Bryant, Smith,
Jayland Randall and
Caleb Blackwell sank buckets as the Bulldogs went into the break trailing, 29-25.
A layup by Smith just 14 seconds into the second half cut the ASU lead to 29-22, but the Hornets quickly responded with a 12-0 run, capped by back-to-back 3-pointers by Range, in pushing the lead to 41-27 with just under 16 minutes to play.
Alabama A&M ended a nearly five-minute scoring drought when
EJ Williams scored on a layup, cutting the deficit to 41-29 with 14:55 left.
The Bulldogs closed the gap to 51-41 after a jumper by Blackwell with just under nine minutes remaining.
However, Alabama State extended the lead to 57-41 after free throws by Eric Coleman with 7:52 left.
The Hornets stretched the lead to 65-48 after a jumper by Range with 3:50 remaining and the Bulldogs could not recover.
GAME NOTES
- Alabama A&M shot 40.0 percent (18-of-45) from the field and 59.3 percent (16-of-27) from the free-throw line
- AAMU pulled down 39 rebounds, with 26 coming off the defensive glass
- Dailin Smith registered 19 points, two rebounds and two steals
- Cameron Tucker added eight points, seven boards, two assists and one block
- The Bulldogs finished with 24 points in the paint, 18 bench points, 15 second-chance points, seven points off eight ASU turnovers and six fastbreak points
- Alabama State went 23-of-60 from the floor (38.3 percent) and 17-of-21 (81.0 percent) from the charity stripe
- The Hornets grabbed 33 boards, including 13 on the offensive glass
- Isaiah Range poured in a game-high 20 points, one rebound and one steal
- Amarr Knox registered nine points, two boards, two assists and two steals
- The Hornets finished with 31 bench points, 27 points off of 21 AAMU turnovers, 24 points in the paint, 17 second-chance points and 11 fastbreak points
UP NEXT
Alabama A&M will take some significant time off before returning to action on Saturday, Jan. 27 at Texas Southern. Tip-off against the Tigers is set for 5 p.m. and streamed on HBCU GO.
For complete coverage of Alabama A&M Athletics, check out the official homepage at www.aamusports.com. Remember to follow us on social media: Instagram (@aamuathletics) and Twitter (@_aamuathletics).
