Alabama A&M Athletics

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. | Bilal Abdur-Rahman scored 15 points as the Alabama A&M University men's basketball team opened exhibition play with a 71-61 loss to Samford on Tuesday night in the Ballin in Boutwell event at Boutwell Memorial Auditorium.
 
Abdur-Rahman went 9 of 12 from the free-throw line and added three assists, two rebounds and one steal. Devin Brown finished with nine points and 11 rebounds, while James Graham III and Diovion Famakinde each scored eight points.
 
Cooper Noard led Samford with 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting, adding two rebounds and one assist. Ty Davis recorded a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Samford opened with a 10-2 run, capped by a Noard 3-pointer with just over 16 minutes remaining in the first half.
 
Alabama A&M trimmed the deficit to 10-5 on a Graham free throw and a Brown layup before Samford answered with two layups to extend its lead to 14-5 with 12:45 left.
 
Abdur-Rahman sank five consecutive free throws to pull AAMU within 17-12 with 9:51 remaining. Samford responded with seven straight points to take a 24-12 lead with just over eight minutes left.
 
AAMU held Samford without a field goal for more than six minutes and used a 10-1 run to cut the deficit to 25-22 on a Famakinde free throw with 3:02 remaining.
 
Samford scored the next seven points before Graham connected on a 3-pointer at the buzzer, sending Alabama A&M into halftime trailing 32-25.
 
Samford extended its lead to 42-27 on a Will Shaver jumper with 15:29 remaining in the second half.
 
A Kevin Paul Jr. basket brought Alabama A&M within 44-33 with 13:12 left, but Samford pushed the margin to 50-35 on a Braeden MacVicar 3-pointer with just over 12 minutes remaining.
 
A Jayden Jackson 3-pointer cut the deficit to 57-49 with 5:31 left. Graham brought AAMU within 63-56 on another 3-pointer with just under three minutes remaining, but the Bulldogs could get no closer down the stretch.
 
GAME NOTES

• Alabama A&M shot 32.2 percent (19 of 59) from the field and 65.5 percent (19 of 29) from the free-throw line.
• AAMU grabbed 37 rebounds, including 11 on the offensive glass.
• Abdur-Rahman led AAMU with 15 points, three assists, two rebounds and one steal, going 9 of 12 from the free-throw line.
• Brown added nine points and 11 rebounds.
• Graham and Famakinde each scored eight points.
• AAMU finished with 30 bench points, 24 points in the paint, 18 points off 13 Samford turnovers, 10 second-chance points and nine fast-break points.
• Stephaun Walker, Nate Johnson, Abdur-Rahman, Graham and Paul started for Alabama A&M.
• Samford shot 47.1 percent (24 of 51) from the field and 58.3 percent (14 of 24) from the free-throw line.
• Samford collected 43 rebounds, including 36 on the defensive glass.
• Noard led Samford with 15 points, two rebounds and one assist, shooting 6 of 12 from the field.
• Davis finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
• Samford recorded 28 points in the paint, 20 fast-break points, 19 bench points, 10 second-chance points and seven points off nine AAMU turnovers.

 
UP NEXT
Alabama A&M concludes its exhibition slate against Detroit Mercy on Saturday, Oct. 24, in the Horatio Williams Foundation Hoops & Culture Event. Tipoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. CT at the Wayne State Fieldhouse.
 
For complete coverage of Alabama A&M Athletics — the Rocket City's only Division I program — visit www.aamusports.com. Follow the Bulldogs on Instagram (@aamuathletics), Facebook (aamubulldogathletics), X (@_aamuathletics) and TikTok (aamuathletics).
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