Alabama Basketball Wins In Four Overtimes At South Carolina

Alabama Basketball Beats South Carolina in Four Overtimes. In a record-setting battle, the Alabama bench led the Tide to victory.

Alabama Basketball won a game, lost a game, and finally won a game Tuesday night against South Carolina. Alabama’s defense dominated the first half driving the Tide to a 32-16 lead. Alabama held the Gamecocks to ten percent shooting in the first half. At halftime, it appeared to be a game the Tide would win. But appearances can be deceiving.

Games are never won in the first half. After the halftime break, Carolina slowly and steadily took control. In the second half, South Carolina relied on Sindarius Thornwell to carry the scoring load.

The Gamecocks played smart on offense. Alabama responded by not playing smart on defense. Most of South Carolina’s second half scoring came from the foul line. Alabama never backed down but the Tide was fortunate to carry the game into overtime.

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It took a career scoring high from Avery Johnson Jr. to get the game to overtime. What little help he got offensively came mostly from Armond Davis.

By the second overtime, three fouled-out starters, Ingram, Key and Jimmy Taylor were spectators.

Riley Norris, Avery Jr., Corban Collins, and Armond Davis would not quit. Alabama had game-winning shot opportunities at the end of the first three overtime periods but could not convert.

Early in the fourth overtime, Armond Davis went to the locker room with an injury. In the fourth period of overtime, Riley Norris, Corban Collins and Dont’a Hall created enough offense for Alabama to prevail over a clearly exhausted Gamecock team. The final score was Alabama 90 – South Carolina 86.

Avery Johnson Jr. finished with 23 points to lead the Tide. Armond Davis contributed 19 points and Riley Norris added a very big 11 points, most in the last two overtimes. Norris also pulled in 14 rebounds.

For South Carolina, Sindarius Thornwell scored 44 points and pulled down 21 rebounds. Thornwell set a new SEC record with 33 free throw attempts.

For the game, South Carolina was 35-50 from the foul line. Alabama was 22-33. The Tide lost the turnover battle, coughing up 24, to South Carolina’s 14. Alabama out-rebounded South Carolina 62-52.

The bench scoring was 56 points for Alabama to just five for the Gamecocks.

Given the turnover and free throw disparity, plus the exploits of Sindarius Thornwell, it appeared to be a game the Tide could not win. But then again, appearances can be deceiving.

Alabama won on guts and heart and toughness. The Tide won on old-school mentality, the kind of attitude that says, “You want a piece of me, bring your lunch.”

Next: Who's Next at OC for the Tide?

If you missed the game, you should still make a point to watch it. All 60 minutes of it. If this Crimson Tide team does nothing else of import this season, tonight’s win makes this a good season.