Texas A&M Men’s Basketball Falls at Alabama

News release from Texas A&M Athletics: 

A Rylan Griffen 3-pointer at the buzzer front-rimmed as the Texas A&M men’s basketball team dropped a 100-97 slugfest against the Alabama Crimson Tide Wednesday at Coleman Coliseum.

The thriller featured 28 lead changes and 13 ties. The game came down to the final moments. Marcus Hill put in a fast break layup to cut the Crimson Tide’s edge to 99-97 with 15 seconds remaining. Alabama (15-7, 5-4 SEC) was unable to get the ball over the halfcourt line and were given two free throws when Ali Dibba fouled Amari Allen in the back court. Allen hit 1-of-2 from the charity stripe as the Tide’s lead stretched to three points, setting up the Aggies’ final trip down the court.

Rashaun Agee was fouled immediately and missed the front end of two foul shots. He missed the second free throw on purpose and the Aggies’ ricochet the rebound out to Griffen who took the final shot which was a hair’s breadth shy of going through the hoop.

Agee led the Aggies with 21 points. Hill notched 18 points and six rebounds. Griffen added 17 points and six rebounds.

The teams played on an even keel for the first 20 minutes, going into halftime knotted 46-46. Hill padded the Aggies with 10 points and four rebounds in the opening act. Jamie Vinson added nine points and four boards. The Maroon & White shot 18-of-34 (52.9%) from the field in the first half.

The game was a seesaw affair early with six lead changes in the first seven minutes. The Crimson Tide used a 12-4 run to drift ahead 28-19 at the midway point of the half. Vinson sparked a 21-6 run for the Aggies with nine points including three dunks and a 3-pointer as Texas A&M (17-5, 7-2 SEC) staked claim to a 40-34 lead at the 4:11 mark. After trading blows for two minutes, the Crimson Tide outscored the Aggies 6-1 down the stretch and tied the game on a 3-pointer by Latrell Wrightsell Jr. as the first-half buzzer sounded.

The Aggies matched their largest lead of the game when Dibba drained a 3-pointer to go ahead 70-64 at the 11:30 mark. Texas A&M led by six again before the Crimson Tide went on a 19-6 run thanks to eight free throws surging ahead 90-83 with 4:29 remaining.

Texas A&M tied the game at 91-91 at the 2:46 mark by way of two free throws from Jacari Lane and layups by Agee and Hill. The lead changed hands the next four times down the court with a Wrightsell 3-pointer putting Alabama up 97-95 with 1:11 remaining.

UP NEXT
Texas A&M returns to Reed Arena this weekend to host No. 17 Florida Saturday at 7:30 p.m. on SEC Network.

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