Final Boxscore

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – The Alabama State University men's basketball team overcame a 17-point second half deficit and forced a pair of turnovers in the final minute to escape with an 80-76 victory over archrival Alabama A&M Saturday night at Elmore Gymnasium.

The Hornets (10-13, 7-5 SWAC) snapped a three-game losing skid with the victory and extended their current win streak over the Bulldogs (8-12, 5-7 SWAC) to seven straight games.

Menji Mundadi scored 27 points, including 16 in the second half, to lead the ASU rally. A.J. Spencer scored a career-best 10 points including a three-point play with 37 seconds left that gave the Hornets the lead for good. Byron Walker posted a double-double for the Hornets with 19 points and 10 rebounds and Chris Duncan chipped in eight including the final game-icing free throws with three seconds remaining.

Casey Cantey led the way for the Bulldogs finishing with 18 points followed by Cornelius Hester with 17.

“This was a typical rivalry game,” said ASU head coach Lewis Jackson, who improved to 10-1 all-time against A&M. “We didn't handle the press very well in the first half, but I'm proud of the effort and fight the team showed in the second half. It was a great win and hopefully this will give us more confidence as we head down the stretch.”

During the opening 10 minutes of the game, the squads battled each other in a see-saw affair that included four ties and three lead changes. Neither team held a lead larger than three points during the frenetic back-and-forth play.

Alabama A&M eventually seized the momentum with an 8-0 run. The Bulldogs full court pressure defense forced several ASU turnovers and also held the Hornets scoreless for nearly four minutes. AAMU continued to control the tempo using a 12-2 surge in building its largest lead of the first half, 42-25, with 2:52 left to play.

The Hornets would respond with eight of the next 11 points to trim the deficit to 12, but got no closer as the Bulldogs held a 48-35 lead at the half. Fourteen first half turnovers by ASU resulted in 19 points for A&M.

The Bulldogs quickly expanded their lead to 17 points, 56-39, early in the second half. However, ASU turned up its defensive pressure holding AAMU without a point during a six-minute span while cutting the deficit to just seven with a 10-0 rally.