Bulldogs squeak by Golden Lions 63-62
Twice the Golden Lions went right to the hole against Alabama A&M in the final 14 seconds, and twice they were denied.
Alabama A&M escaped the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff with a 63-62 men’s basketball win Saturday at H.O. Clemmons Arena in the Southwestern Athletic Conference opener for both teams.
Kylen Milton, who had 12 points for UAPB, shortarmed a layup attempt, but the Lions (5-9, 0-1 SWAC) got another chance when the ball went out of bounds off the Bulldogs (2-12, 1-0) and called timeout with 4.4 seconds remaining.
“I wasn’t really contested. I just didn’t execute like I was supposed to,” Milton said.
They turned to Rashad Williams — the hero from UAPB’s clutch victory at Central Arkansas on Nov. 13 — but he appeared to be hacked on his drive to the hole right before the buzzer, and the Bulldogs avoided a foul call to win, drawing consternation from the home crowd of 1,302.
The Bulldogs prevailed after blowing a 9-point lead and then coming up with timely offensive rebounds to go up 63-59 with 31 seconds left. UAPB drew within a point after Lonnell Martin Jr., the senior transfer from the University of Montana, nailed a 3-point basket with 21 seconds left.
Martin finished with 20 points, making 6 of 11 from the field and 3 of 8 3-point attempts.
“He’s one of our backbones for this team,” Milton said. “We call him the voice because he’s our vocal leader. He gets everybody going in there. On top of that, he makes the right plays and big shots. He’s just an allaround good player.”
Ismael Plet (15 points, 7 rebounds) made 2 free throws following one of his 4 steals to give the Golden Lions a 59-58 lead with 1:38 left. The Bulldogs’ Omari Peek (21 points, 6 rebounds) responded at the 1:11 mark with a spin move to the basket, and the Lions turned the ball over near midcourt, leading to a 1-for-2 free throw trip by Chad Moodie.
Lorenzo Downey (8 points, 13 rebounds) rebounded the miss and scored off another offensive board to make it a 4-point game with 31 seconds to go. Alabama A&M outrebounded UAPB 44-22.
UAPB scored 30 points off 26 Alabama A&M turnovers, while the Bulldogs netted 8 points off 11 Lions errors. The Bulldogs shot 50% (26 of 52) from the floor, including 4 of 9 from 3-point range, and held on despite making 7 of 14 free throws.
“Just guys making the right plays and stops,” Bulldogs Coach Otis Hughley Jr. said. “If we can make free throws and get some free throws, it probably wouldn’t have been so close. Those guys made some big shots for us, and we held off poised enough. We [stove] them off and were able to come up with a big road win.”
UAPB, which led 30-28 at halftime, shot 37.3% (19 of 51) from the field, going 7 for 28 from the arc. The Lions converted 17 of 21 free throws.
UAPB will host Alabama State at 7:30 p.m. Monday.
“I missed the [would-be winning] shot, but it’s all good. We can bounce back, and we’re going to bounce back Monday,” Milton said.