Alabama
7-3
Liberty
9-3
Alabama Captures 84-75 Victory Over Liberty in Rocket City Classic
12/18/2018 9:42:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Senior Donta Hall led the Crimson Tide with a career high 21 points to top three players in double figures for the Crimson Tide
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – The Alabama men's basketball team defeated Liberty, 84-75, Tuesday night at the Rocket City Classic in front of a near capacity crowd at the Von Braun Center. The Crimson Tide (7-3) outscored Liberty (9-3), 50-42, in the second half after only leading, 34-33, at halftime to outlast the Flames for the win.
Senior Donta Hall had a career night from the field with 21 points going a perfect 6-of-6. The Luverne, Ala., native added five rebounds and four blocked shots, while also knocking down 9-of-11 from the charity stripe tying his career-best effort. Huntsville natives, freshman Kira Lewis Jr. poured in 17 points with sophomore John Petty Jr. adding 16 points of his own including three treys on the night.
"It was a successful night for us on so many different levels," head coach Avery Johnson said. "This is a recruiting hot-bed for us, obviously we have a several kids on our team from Huntsville area. To come here and have a near sell-out crowd, thank you Huntsville, thank you for your support. We appreciate it. Three consecutive years of success here in Huntsville. The kids from this area all played a role in our success.
"This was a good win for us. We are not a perfect team, especially defensively. We have a long way to go, but a good win and a great night here in Huntsville."
The first half was a back-and-forth affair with neither team leading by more than five points over the opening 20 minutes. The Tide held a 32-27 lead with just over a minute remaining in the half, but the Flames scored six of the final eight points to cut the lead to one, 34-33, at intermission.
Herbert Jones led Alabama in the first half, collecting eight points and adding three steals in the opening 20 minutes. Sophomore Alex Reese added seven points off the bench, while junior Dazon Ingram added seven points.
The second half began with Alabama going on a 10-2 run just over a minute into the stanza. Petty came out of the locker room knocking down a pair of threes during the run. A jumper by Lewis Jr. gave Alabama its biggest lead of the night at eight, 48-40 with 16:01 left in the second half. Liberty hung tough and cut the lead down to one, 55-54, with 10:35 left in the second half.
Alabama was able to capitalize on Liberty turning the ball over and converting them into points on the other end to take a double-digit lead, 68-58, lead with 6:55 left in the contest.
Alabama used strong defense down the stretch to limit Liberty and took its largest lead of the game, 81-67, with 1:52 remaining. Back-to-back three points shots from Liberty cut the lead to 83-75, with only 48 seconds in the half, however, the Tide was able to make its free throws down the stretch to earn the nine-point win.
It marks the third consecutive year that Alabama has won the Rocket City Classic, which included victories over Arkansas State in 2016 and Mercer a year ago.
Alabama will return to action on Friday night when it hosts Penn State at 8 p.m. CT in Coleman Coliseum. The game will be televised on SEC Network.
For all the latest information on the team, follow AlabamaMBB on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. General athletic news can be found at UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and Alabama Athletics on Facebook.
