THE HILL | James Graham scored a game-high 28 points, including eight in overtime, and
Bilal Abdur-Rahman scored five in the final 1:23 as the Alabama A&M University men's basketball team held off West Florida, 85-83, Thursday night in the Bulldog Bash at the AAMU Event Center.
Graham went 14-of-17 at the free-throw line for Alabama A&M (3-1).
Sami Pissis added 16 points and a team-high four assists, while
Diovion Famakinde scored 10 off the bench.
Devin Brown finished with nine points and five rebounds, and Abdur-Rahman and
Jalen Carruth scored eight apiece.
DJ Shine led West Florida (2-2) with 18 points. Sano Rutatika added 16 points and seven rebounds, Alex Godley scored 15 and Daylon Dickerson finished with 10.
HOW IT HAPPENED
West Florida led 16-15 before Carruth buried a 3-pointer with 11:06 left in the first half to start a 9-0 Alabama A&M run. Pissis capped the stretch with a 3-pointer off a turnover to give the Bulldogs a 24-16 lead with 8:26 remaining.
Carruth hit his second 3-pointer to make it 36-25, and Graham sank two free throws with 1:10 left to give Alabama A&M its largest lead at 44-30. The Bulldogs shot 56.5 percent from the floor and made five 3-pointers in the first half to take a 44-32 lead into the break.
Graham's two free throws stretched the lead to 48-34 with 18:47 left in regulation, but West Florida scored 12 straight to pull within two. Graham stopped the run with a dunk at the 14:19 mark, and the Bulldogs rebuilt a seven-point lead at 56-49 on two more Graham free throws with 11:26 to play.
Famakinde gave Alabama A&M a 70-64 lead with two free throws at the 2:15 mark. West Florida scored the final six points of regulation, getting two free throws from Eze Wali and a hook shot from Rutatika before Dickerson converted a Bulldogs turnover into the tying layup with 17 seconds remaining.
Graham opened overtime with two jumpers, and Pissis followed with two free throws to put Alabama A&M ahead 76-70. West Florida twice pulled within one, the last time at 78-77, before Pissis found Abdur-Rahman for a 3-pointer with 1:23 left. Graham answered a Dickerson layup with a turnaround jumper to make it 83-79 with 40 seconds remaining.
Wali cut the deficit to two with 18 seconds left, and Abdur-Rahman hit both free throws with nine seconds remaining to give Alabama A&M an 85-81 lead. Julius King Jr. made the first two of three free throws with four seconds left. Rutatika grabbed the rebound on the third attempt, and time expired before the Argonauts could get off a shot.
UP NEXT
Alabama A&M closes out the Bulldog Bash on Sunday against Cleveland State. Tip-off against the Vikings is set for 2 p.m. from the AAMU Event Center and streamed on SWAC TV.
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