THE HILL | Sami Pissis hit a key 3-pointer down the stretch as the Alabama A&M University men's basketball team won the 2025 Bulldog Bash by defeating Lindenwood, 74-65, on Sunday afternoon at the AAMU Event Center.
Pissis scored 12 of his team-high 19 points in the second half, along with four assists, three rebounds and two steals to pace to the Bulldogs.
Lou Hutchinson had 13 points, including 11 in the first half, while
Kintavious Dozier and
Koron Davis each scored 10 points.
PJ Eason added nine points, eight boards and a game-high four blocks.
Dontrez Williams led Lindenwood with 19 points, six boards and two assists, while Anias Futrell posted 16 points, five boards, two steals and one assist.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Alabama A&M (3-1) trailed, 14-9 after free throws by Futrell with just over 10 minutes to play in the opening half, but the Bulldogs got a trey from
Lou Hutchinson and free throws by
Kintavious Dozier to tie the game at 14 with 9:11 left.
The Bulldogs caught fire over a five-minute stretch, using a 10-2 run, capped by a Hutchinson layup as AAMU grabbed a 24-19 advantage with 5:13 remaining.
Back came Lindenwood as Futrell scored on a jumper to give the Lions a 28-26 lead, but a Pissis bucket tied the game at 28 with 2:53 left.
A Hutchinson triple gave Alabama A&M a 34-30 lead with just over a minute to play and Lindenwood closed the gap to 34-32 at the break.
The Lions (2-3) tied the game at 42 after a dunk by Dontrez Williams and a layup by Futrell, but a Pissis 3-pointer gave the Bulldogs a 45-42 lead with just under 12 minutes to play.
Lindenwood trimmed the deficit to 49-48 after a Jadis Jones free throw with 11:25 remaining and Alabama A&M responded with a 10-5 run, capped by a Davis jumper as the Bulldogs pushed the lead to 59-53 with 7:08 left.
Free throws and a jumper by Dozier extended AAMU's lead to 67-59 with 2:27 remaining, but the Lions closed the margin to 67-63 after a free throw by Milos Nenadic with 1:38 left.
However, Pissis' triple with 33 seconds left pushed the advantage to 70-63 and Lindenwood could not recover as Alabama A&M won both games during the 2025 Bulldogs Bash.
GAME NOTES
- Alabama A&M shot 45.1 percent (23-of-51) from the floor and 76.0 percent (19-of-25) from the free-throw line
- The Bulldogs grabbed 32 rebounds, including 24 on the defensive end
- Sami Pissis scored 12 of his team-high 19 points in the second half, along with four assists, three rebounds and two steals
- Lou Hutchinson had 13 points, including 11 in the first half
- Kintavious Dozier and Koron Davis each scored 10 points
- PJ Eason added nine points, eight boards and a game-high four blocks
- Alabama A&M finished with 24 points in the paint, 23 bench points, 14 fastbreak points, 11 points off 14 Lindenwood turnovers and 10 second-chance points
- Lindenwood went 24-of-54 (44.4 percent) from the field and 13-of-21 (61.9 percent) from the charity stripe
- The Lions grabbed 31 rebounds, with 21 coming on the defensive end
- Dontrez Williams registered 19 points, six boards and two assists
- Anias Futrell posted 16 points, five boards, two steals and one assist.
- Lindenwood finished with 36 points in the paint, 20 fastbreak points, 18 bench points, 11 second-chance points and 10 points off 13 AAMU turnovers
UP NEXT
Alabama A&M returns to action on Friday, Nov. 28 as the Bulldogs visit Clemson. Tip-off against the Tigers is scheduled for 6 p.m. (central) from Littlejohn Coliseum and streamed on ACC Network Extra.
For complete coverage of Alabama A&M Athletics – Huntsville's only Division I program - 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).
