The slow start that bothered Southern in two regular season losses to Alabama A&M was there again Thursday at the Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament.
Fourth-seeded Southern made just one field goal in the game’s first eight minutes, setting the tone for a 77-63 loss to No. 5 Alabama A&M at Bartow Arena in Birmingham, Alabama.
Alabama A&M (15-17) made seven 3-pointers and led the entire game. The Bulldogs took their largest lead at 54-34 with 12:30 left to play and didn’t let Southern get closer than eight points the rest of the way.
Southern (15-17) outscored the Bulldogs 15-3, and trailed 57-49 before A&M heated back up. Southern missed five free throws in the final minutes as its comeback stalled.
With the win, Alabama A&M moved into the semifinals, and will play No. 8 Texas Southern at 2 p.m. Friday.
Messiah Thompson scored a season-high 27 points to lead A&M. Olisa Blaise Akonobi had nine boards as the Bulldogs outrebounded Southern 36-22.
Brion Whitley was Southern’s top scorer with 18 points.
Southern missed its first five shots to open the game, but eventually trailed 11-8 after Isaiah Rollins’ three-point play with 11:12 to go in the first half. Alabama A&M followed with a 12-2 run, and surged out to a 36-23 lead at halftime.
The Bulldogs shot well over 50% in both of their regular-season wins over Southern, but went 9 for 23 in the first half. Still, the Bulldogs made 5 of 13 3-pointers, including two backbreakers that barely beat the shot clock buzzer.
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