Releford drains one from downtown to win game...

Tide stops streak at four...

Releford, Jacobs, and Hale shine...

 

    With .06 seconds left in the second half the little man, Trevor Releford, was up to some old tricks. This one arrived in the form of a 24 foot three pointer that gave the Tide a 67-64  victory.  With the entire arena knowing who was going to take the final shot, Grant chose to pass the ball to Cooper on the wing. The Rebels bit and gave Releford just enough room to hit the winner. It was a gusty call on the part of Grant. It was a picture pure shot by Releford.  The player guarding him? How about Marshall Henderson?  He got schooled by a classy player. The Tide now stands at 10-14 (4-7).  The Tide is fighting to keep out of positions 13 or 14 for the SEC Tournament. 

        You have to feel a lot of admiration for the Tide. The jumped out to a big lead for a change. They then saw that lead dissolve and the Rebels took their first second-half lead with 9:46 left in the game on a   LaDarius White triple.That's when Releford and Jacobs took over. The lefty made some strong hook shots. Releford drove down the lane time and time again. Those drives down the paint left Ole Miss players caught flat footed and probably a little bit in awe. Releford put the Tide back ahead with some masterful moves before his final shot. In the Henderson/Releford showdown it was all Trevor. He finished with a game high 26 points. Although Algie Key failed to score he shut down Henderson holding him to only 14 points. Henderson won a few battles with Key but lost the war to the Alabama junior. Key may have found himself a new role on this team with his strong effort. None of the late games heroics would have been possible with the 18 points and 8 points from Nick Jacobs who dominated the inside during the first half. Shannon Hale finished with 15 points and 3 assists. I thought his aggressive play in the first half set the tone for game

 Alabama lost the lead but not their poise...

       Alabama had a five point lead late in the game.  It didn't last.Ole Miss got an offensive rebound off a missed free throw and Marshall Henderson made a three pointer. Summers hit two free throws to tie the game at 64. That set up the Releford winner. Number 12 scored 21 of his 26 in the second half. Bama's defense which had been missing in action held the Rebels to 64 points. That's a number which means that Alabama generally wins a game. Coach Grant had his team switching off screens to try to cut down the deadly three point Rebel game instead of fighting through them. It is something that most coaches don't like doing because of the pick and roll mismatches. On the offensive end it was clear that Alabama was going to force the action inside instead of passively settling for three point shots. Hale, in  particular, took the ball inside early in the game. Poor free throw shooting by Alabama kept the Rebels in the game. It all came down to one classy little guard shooting a bomb to win the game. The fact that the shot sailed over the outstretched arms of a less than classy opponent made it all the sweeter.

    The Tide could have rolled over and died. Instead, the Tide got up and fought back to tie the game and win. Bama made some significant coaching moves in this game. All in all it was a good game and should give Bama some hope for the remainder of the year.