BIRMINGHAM, Ala. | The Alabama A&M University men's basketball team entered Wednesday night's road game searching for its first win over UAB, but the Blazers used a strong first half and didn't look back in a 96-67 victory at Bartow Arena.
Alabama A&M (4-7) trailed 57-28 at the break and suffered its fourth straight loss as the Bulldogs could not recover from the huge deficit.
Jaylen Colon posted a career-high 12 points, on 4-of-9 shooting, with three rebounds, three assists, one steal and one block.
Lorenzo Downey added 11 points, two boards, two assists and one steal, while
Chad Moodie registered 11 points, six rebounds, three blocks and two assists.
Christian Coleman paced UAB with a double-double of 25 points and 11 rebounds, along with one steal and one blocked shot. Efrem Johnson came off the bench to provide 15 points, four boards and one steal, while Ja'Borr McGhee tallied 15 points, four steals, two boards and two assists. Tony Toney added 12 points, six rebounds, three steals, two assists and one block.
HOW IT HAPPENED
UAB (6-6) jumped out to a 12-8 advantage after a tip-in by Yaxel Lendeborg with just under 15 minutes to play, but back came the Bulldogs as
Darius Ford drained a long-range trey and scored on a jumper, tying the game at 13 with 13:55 remaining in the opening half.
The Blazers responded with eight straight points, taking a 21-13 advantage after an Alejandro Vazquez jumper with 11:33 left. The Bulldogs closed the gap on the very next possession as Colon drained a 3-pointer, cutting the margin to 21-16 with 11:18 remaining.
UAB stretched its lead to 29-16 after a putback dunk by Coleman with 9:27 left and pushed the margin to 35-18 after a free throw by Lendeborg with just over eight minutes to play.
The Blazers closed out the first half strong, using a 22-10 run over the final eight minutes to take a 57-28 advantage into the break.
UAB stretched its lead to 62-32 before buckets by
Angok Anyang,
Chad Moodie and
Lorenzo Downey closed the gap to 62-38 with 16:30 left.
Alabama A&M could not recover from the big second-half deficit in suffering the road loss.
GAME NOTES
- Alabama A&M shot 33.8 percent (23-of-68) from the floor and 60.0 percent (12-of-20) from the free-throw line
- The Bulldogs grabbed 41 rebounds, including 21 on the offensive glass
- Jaylen Colon posted a career-high 12 points, three rebounds, three assists, one steal and one block
- Lorenzo Downey added 11 points, two boards, two assists and one steal
- Chad Moodie registered 11 points, six rebounds, three blocks and two assists
- Alabama A&M finished with 30 bench points, 24 points in the paint, 19 second-chance points, 15 fastbreak points and 11 points off 9 UAB turnovers
- UAB went 32-of-74 shooting (43.2 percent) and 25-of-30 (83.3 percent) from the charity stripe
- The Blazers grabbed 51 rebounds, with 28 coming off the defensive glass
- Christian Coleman recorded a double-double of 25 points and 11 rebounds, along with one steal and one blocked shot
- Efrem Johnson came off the bench to provide 15 points, four boards and one steal,
- Ja'Borr McGhee tallied 15 points, four steals, two boards and two assists
- Tony Toney added 12 points, six rebounds, three steals, two assists and one block
- UAB finished with 42 points in the paint, 34 bench points, 33 points off 18 AAMU turnovers, 30 second-chance points and 18 fastbreak points
UP NEXT
Alabama A&M returns home on Saturday for its Toys for Tots game as the Bulldogs play host to Samford. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. from the AAMU Event Center and streamed on Bulldogs All-Access. In addition, admission to the game is free and fans are encouraged to bring a teddy bear to toss during a halftime event, partnered by the United States Marine Corps.
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), Facebook (aamubulldogathletics), Twitter (@_aamuathletics) and TikTok (aamuathletics).
