Alabama
6-2
Clemson
5-3
Men's Basketball Downs Clemson on the Road, 51-50
12/13/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
GREENVILLE, S.C. - The Alabama's men's basketball team (6-2) won its third straight one-possession game, defeating Clemson (6-3) on the road, 51-50, on Sunday night. The victory also marks the Tide's fourth consecutive win away from home, which is the first time an Alabama team has accomplished that feat since the 2001-02 season.
The Tide finished with a season high 44 rebounds, including 21 on the offensive glass, while senior Retin Obasohan set a career-high with 23 points. His previous career high came against Charleston Southern on Dec. 14, 2013.
The Tide trailed 50-49 with under a minute to play when junior Shannon Hale stole a pass and took it to the rim for what would be the game-winning dunk. Clemson ran the clock down to just under five seconds before shooting for the win. Junior Avry Holmes' shot fell short and Jaron Blossomgame's put back was no good as the ball went out of bounds, giving the Tide possession with three seconds remaining.
The Tigers tipped the Tide's first inbound attempt out of bounds, but sophomore Riley Norris got the ball to Arthur Edwards on the second try who was fouled with one second to play. Edwards went to the line to shoot one-and-one, but missed his first attempt. Clemson grabbed the rebound and launched the ball across the court as the horn sounded, but the shot fell short.
"Our boys were men tonight," head coach Avery Johnson said. "Retin was fantastic and really carried us, especially in the first half. We thought Retin could be most effective for us off the ball, playing not so much point guard, but off the ball. He's really playing with a lot of confidence right now. Shannon also played well and came up with a clutch steal and slam to win the game for us. I am just so proud of our team for winning a game on the road against a very good Clemson team."
Alabama set the tone in the first half, making its first four three-point shots to take a 16-7 lead on the back of a 13-2 run over a 2:43 stretch. Clemson answered with a 6-0 run to cut the Tide's lead to 19-13. Midway through the half, Alabama went on an 11-2 run over four and half minutes to take a 30-19 lead - it's largest of the game - with 5:36 on the clock.
Clemson responded with a 7-0 run of its own to close the gap to 30-26, but finished the half on a three-minute scoring drought. The Tide went to the locker room with a 34-26 lead and a 27-10 edge in rebounding. Obasohan scored 15 points in the first half.
Clemson slowly chipped away at the deficit for the entire second half and pulled to within four, down 45-41, with 10 minutes to play. From that point on the Tide made just one of its 13 field goal attempts, until Hale's heroics.
The Tide won the rebounding battle for only the second time this year (2-0 when outrebounding its opponent). Alabama, without leading rebounder freshman Dazon Ingram (5.9 rpg), grabbed 44 boards to Clemson's 30.
Obasohan led the Tide in scoring, while Hale added 12 points and nine rebounds. Jimmie Taylor recorded a team-high nine rebounds. Justin Coleman, who started in place of Ingram, finished with three points, five assists and a career-best five rebounds on the night.
Clemson's Landry Nnoko finished with 15 points, and Holmes added 11. Blossomgame led the team with seven rebounds.
Alabama returns home Wednesday, Dec. 16, to face Winthrop - UA's first home game in nearly a month. The Tide and Eagles tip off at 8 p.m. CT with the contest airing on SEC Network.
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