THE HILL | Warren Yeh finished with a career-high 17 points as the Alabama A&M University men's basketball team could not overcome a hot-shooting Southern team in the second half in falling, 81-68, in a Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) game on Saturday afternoon at the AAMU Event Center.
Alabama A&M (7-16 overall, 3-7 SWAC) led by one at the half, but could not overcome a 15-3 run in the middle of the second half by Southern as the Bulldogs dropped their third straight game. Southern (15-8, 10-0) remained perfect in conference play by shooting 70.0 percent in the second half.
Yeh, who went 5-of-8 from the floor, led the Bulldogs with 17 points and three rebounds.
Bilal Abdur-Rahman scored 13 of his 15 points in the first half, while
Darius Ford added nine points.
Joe Manning led four Jaguar players in double figures with a game-high 22 points. Cam Amboree recorded 14 points, while DaMariee Jones added 13 points and five boards. Michael Jacobs tallied 12 points.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Southern jumped out to a 14-5 lead after an Amboree 3-pointer with just over 14 minutes to play in the first half.
A dunk by
Clance Crosby snapped a 1-for-7 start for the Bulldogs, closing the gap to 14-7 with 13:25 remaining.
Alabama A&M got seven straight points from Rahman as the Bulldogs cut the deficit to 18-15 with 10:37 left and AAMU tied the game at 20 after free throws by Ford with 8:29 remaining.
A
Saliou Seye putback bucket, followed by a fastbreak dunk, gave AAMU a 27-24 advantage with 4:44 left.
A Rahman jumper gave Alabama A&M a 34-31 lead, but Southern got a bucket by Dionjahe Thomas right before the break as the Bulldogs took a slim, 34-33, lead into the half.
The Jaguars opened the second half on an 8-0 run after a Manning triple gave Southern a 41-34 advantage with 18:27 remaining, but the Bulldogs clawed back, closing the gap to 43-41 after free throws by
Quincy McGriff with 16:29 left.
Southern responded with a 10-4 run, capped by free throws by Michael Jacobs as the Jaguars stretched their lead to 51-45 with just under 13 minutes to play. However, back came AAMU as
Aaron Smith's layup cut the deficit to 54-53 with 11:35 remaining and tied the game at 55 on a Yeh bucket with just over 11 minutes.
The Jaguars answered with a 15-3 run, capped by a Manning jumper, as Southern took a 70-58 lead with 7:16 remaining.
Southern extended its lead to 77-61 with less than five minutes to play and Alabama A&M could not recover from the huge deficit.
GAME NOTES
- Alabama A&M shot 39.2 percent (20-of-51) from the floor and 71.4 percent (20-of-28) from the free-throw line
- The Bulldogs grabbed 28 rebounds, including 20 on the defensive glass
- Warren Yeh recorded 17 points and three rebounds
- Bilal Abdur-Rahman scored 13 of his 15 points in the first half
- Darius Ford added nine points
- Alabama A&M finished with 45 bench points, 18 points in the paint, 11 points off 14 SU turnovers, nine fastbreak points and three second-chance points
- Southern went 26-of-51 (51.0 percent) from the field and 18-of-37 (48.6 percent) from the charity stripe
- The Jaguars grabbed 41 rebounds, with 14 coming on the offensive glass
- Joe Manning recorded a game-high 22 points
- Cam Amboree posted14 points
- DaMariee Jones added 13 points and five boards
- Michael Jacobs tallied 12 points
- Southern finished with 35 bench points, 26 points in the paint, 15 points off 13 AAMU turnovers, 15 second-chance points and eight fastbreak points
UP NEXT
Alabama A&M closes out its two-game homestand on Monday as the Bulldogs welcome Grambling State to the AAMU Event Center. Tip-off against the Tigers is scheduled for 7 p.m. and streamed on Bulldogs All-Access.
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).
