TALLAHASSEE, Fla. | James Graham III exploded for a career-high 27 points as the Alabama A&M University men's basketball team held off Florida A&M, 63-61, on Thursday night in a key Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) game at the AL Lawson Center.
Graham's previous high was 19 points earlier this month at Grambling State and he was more than halfway to that total at the break with 13 points. He finished the night 11-of-14 from the floor, along with six rebounds and a pair of assists.
Kintavious Dozier tossed in 11 points, two boards, one steal and one assist.
Sami Pissis added nine points, three boards, three assists and three steals.
With the win, Alabama A&M (16-11 overall, 9-5 SWAC) moved into second place in the conference standings as the Bulldogs have now won four straight.
Tyler Shirley led Florida A&M (10-15, 7-7) with 23 points, on 9-of-15 shooting, including five 3-pointers. Micah Octave, Jaquan Sanders and Antonio Baker each scored eight points.
First Half
Florida A&M struck first, but Dozier answered with a three-pointer at the 17:51 mark to give the Bulldogs a 3-2 lead.
Moments later, Graham converted a layup off a turnover to extend the advantage.
The Bulldogs built their largest lead of the opening half at 14:34 following a Graham bucket in the paint, pushing the margin to 13-4.
Florida A&M responded behind Tyler Shirley's perimeter shooting to close the gap, and the contest featured five lead changes and four ties in the first half.
The Rattlers tied the game at 31-31 on a second-chance layup with 27 seconds remaining, and the teams went into the break deadlocked at 31.
Second Half
The second half mirrored the first with momentum swings on both sides. Graham knocked down a three-pointer at the 17:44 mark to tie the game at 36-36, and later added a fast-break layup to keep the Bulldogs within striking distance.
With the score tied at 53-53, Graham delivered again, drilling a three-pointer with 7:15 remaining to give Alabama A&M a 56-53 edge. He followed with a jumper and a dunk in traffic to push the Bulldogs ahead 58-54 and 51-50 in consecutive stretches.
After Florida A&M cut the deficit to one in the final minute,
Koron Davis calmly stepped to the line and converted a pair of free throws with 10 seconds remaining to extend the lead to 62-59.
Following a Rattlers basket, Dozier split a pair of free throws with three seconds left to make it a two-point game.
Florida A&M's final three-point attempt at the buzzer missed, sealing the 63-61 victory for the Bulldogs.
UP NEXT
Alabama A&M closes out its road campaign on Saturday with a trip to Bethune-Cookman. Tip-off against the Wildcats is set for 4:30 p.m. (CT) from Moore Gymnasium and streamed on SWAC TV.
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).
