MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Nothing is given and everything was earned on Saturday night at the Dunn-Oliver Acadome.
 
Alabama State rallied from six points down in the final 38 seconds of regulation to force overtime as the Hornets outlasted rival Alabama A&M, 97-89 in triple overtime, in a Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) game.
 
"It was another hard fought game for us out there today and you had two really good teams battling," Alabama State head coach Lewis Jackson said. "Anytime you have a rivalry game you know it is going to be a good game. We battled and fought hard to get the win. We didn't start off good and missed some shots, which allowed them to find their rhythm. But I thought we did a good job of battling back. Torloft (Thomas) was able to make a step back three, which proved to be huge for us and send us into overtime. We knew they were going to come out here and play tough and we had to find a way to win."
 
Rodney Simeon paced five Alabama State players in double figures as he finished with a team-high 25 points, on 9-of-15 shooting and four 3-pointers. He hauled in 11 rebounds, including nine on the defensive glass, with one blocked shot.
 
Tony Armstrong tallied 22 points, 13 rebounds, with 10 coming on the defensive end, and one block. Reginald Gee and Terrance LeFlore each had 15 and 12 points, respectively, while LeFlore finished with a game-high six assists, two steals and one block. Torloft Thomas chipped in with 11 points, including a clutch 3-pointer to send the game into overtime, four assists and three steals.
 
Alabama State (8-16 overall, 6-6 SWAC) shot 28-of-76 (36.8 percent) from the floor and 33-of-47 (70.2 percent) from the foul line as the Hornets completed the season sweep of their rivals and the first since 2011-12.
 
Alabama A&M (1-22, 1-11) led by as many as 11 points in the first half, but Alabama State fought back as there were 18 ties and 13 lead changes throughout the game.
 
The Hornets trailed for most of the second half, which set the stage for the dramatic ending to regulation.
 
After a bucket by Marcus Merriweather with 39 seconds left gave Alabama A&M a 55-49 lead, Gee cut the deficit in half, 55-52, after a 3-pointer with 32 seconds left. After a turnover by the Bulldogs, Armstrong scored on a jumper with 20 seconds remaining to trim the margin to 55-54. 
 
De'Dederick Petty sank a pair of free throws with 13.5 left to give Alabama A&M a 57-54 advantage. On the next ensuing possession, Thomas got the ball on the left wing and sank a step-back 3-pointer with 7.3 remaining, tying the game at 57.
 
Alabama A&M had one final look at Rakiya Battle's shot banked off the back of the glass as time expired to send the game into overtime.
 
In the second overtime, Alabama A&M led 76-73 after a three-point play by Quenterian McConico with 3:05 left, but the Hornets battled back and took a 79-78 advantage after a free-throw by Armstrong with 26 seconds remaining. Both teams traded free-throws in the final seven seconds to send the game into the third overtime.
 
Alabama State dominated the third overtime as the Hornets got buckets by Gee and Thomas to grab an 88-80 lead. The Bulldogs got as close as five points, 92-87, after a jumper by Merriweather, but that was as close as Alabama A&M would get.
 
McConico registered a game-high 27 points and 18 rebounds, with 13 coming on the defensive end, to lead Alabama A&M. Petty added 21 points, seven rebounds, two steals, two assists and one block, while Merriweather chipped in with 16 points. Adrian Edwards finished with 10 points as the Bulldogs shot 37.2 percent (32-of-96) from the field and 60.5 percent (23-of-38) from the free-throw line.
 
Alabama State, which has won three straight during the second leg of the conference schedule, takes to the road for the next two games, starting on Saturday against Alcorn State in Lorman, Miss. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.
 
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