Tuscaloosa, Ala- The Alabama Crimson Tide Men’s Basketball team came up just a little short in this weekend’s game against the Texas A&M Aggies. This win is the end of a three game losing streak for the Aggies, and their first SEC win of this season.
Although Alabama had gained an 11- point lead by the end of the first half thanks to a dunk by Donta Hall, it wasn’t enough to keep them from what was coming in the second half.
At just under 12 minutes into the second half, the 12-point lead was down to two, then one as Aggie Josh Nebo dunked on the Tide’s Daniel Giddens. With just around 3 seconds left, the score is 79-78 in favor of the Tide after two fowl shots from Savion Flagg, and the Tide takes a time out. As Alabama was only leading by one, Kira Lewis Jr. missed one of his two free throw opportunities. With a little less than 3 seconds left, TJ Starks was able to shoot the game-winning 3-pointer for the Aggies while cornered by Bama players, bringing the final score to 81-80.
Up to this point, Starks had been lagging, making only 3 of 16 for nine points, so this game winning shot no doubt redeemed him in the eyes of the fans.
Donta Hall of the Crimson Tide had a season high of 16 rebounds, while also having his seventh double-double of the season. For John Petty, this was his best game of the season, having put up 22 points on his own. The six 3-pointers were a season high for the Tide sophomore.
“We came out of the locker room not as focused as we needed to be.” said Tide head coach Avery Johnson on the loss.
This is the second time this season that Alabama has lost by an unfortunate buzzer beater, last time by Georgie State. The Tide is to take on Missouri this upcoming Wednesday.
(Photo courtesy of Hannah Saad)
