Alabama
South Carolina
Tide's Late Rally Not Enough to Overcome South Carolina
2/5/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By JEFFREY COLLINS, Associated Press Writer
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - Josh Gonner scored 22 points and Kerbrell Brown added 16, including a 3-pointer with 21.1 seconds left that sent the game into overtime, and No. 25 South Carolina beat Alabama 90-82 Wednesday night.
In a game that saw the teams combine to hit 30 of 56 3-pointers, it was a mixture of good shooting and defense by the Gamecocks (19-3, 6-2 Southeastern Conference) and mistakes by Alabama that doomed the Crimson Tide (11-8, 3-5).
South Carolina hit four of its first six shots in overtime, including a 3-pointer and a putback by Brown before he fouled out with 25.4 seconds to go. Brown was 6-for-8, including 4-for-5 on 3-pointers. He was shooting just 25.5 percent from behind the arc entering the game.
The Crimson Tide committed three offensive fouls and missed three free throws and a 3-pointer in their first six possessions of the extra period before Demetrius Smith's layup with just over a minute to go cut South Carolina's lead to 83-73.
Alabama trailed 58-43 with 12 minutes left in regulation before climbing back with some impressive 3-point shooting that highlighted a 28-10 run. Earnest Shelton scored 23 points and Kennedy Winston added 20, on 4-of-6 shooting on 3s, and seven rebounds for Alabama.
Shelton, who was 5-of-12 on 3-pointers on the night, hit 3s on four straight possessions to give the Crimson Tide a 71-68 lead with just over two minutes to go.
In fact, 11 of Alabama's 14 second-half field goals were 3-pointers, including their final seven of regulation. The Crimson Tide shot 51.6 percent (16-of-31) behind the arc against South Carolina, which was allowing teams to shoot just 24.3 percent on 3-pointers coming in.
The Gamecocks' shooting was even more impressive. They were 56 percent (14-of-25) from behind the arc.
Carlos Powell had 13 points for South Carolina, while Michael Boynton added 12 points and Renaldo Balkman had 11 and eight rebounds in his first game back from a one-game suspension for a flagrant foul versus Vanderbilt.
South Carolina's win broke a four-game losing streak to the Crimson Tide, and set up a showdown for the SEC East lead when the Gamecocks visit Kentucky on Saturday.
South Carolina led 39-32 after scoring 12 straight points to end the first half, then opened the second half on a 19-11 run to take a 58-43 lead with 12 minutes left in the game.
