ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. | Jacoby Ross and Reginald Gee combined for 49 total points for Alabama State in third place game at the St. Pete Shootout, and the Hornets had a pair of chances at the buzzer but fell to Campbell 70-69 Saturday afternoon.

Ross led Alabama State (2-9) with 25 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the floor, including 5-of-12 from beyond the arc for the Hornets who trailed by 17 with 6:40 remaining in the game. Meanwhile, Reginald Gee finished with 24 on 10-of-13 shooting from the floor and 3-of-6 from beyond the arc, while Fausto Pichardo finished with eight points and 10 rebounds.

"We played well today," Alabama State head coach Lewis Jackson said. "We played with a lot of effort early, and were able to use to come back late in the game. It was good to see us get Jacoby and Gee going in the same game, and that is something we have been working on the last few days with everyone about shot selection. We just need to continue to work and take the positives from this game, and grow from them."

Alabama State fell behind 68-52 on a jumper by Trey Spencer of Campbell, before they were able to reel off a 17-2 run over the final six minutes to have a chance to win the game. After the Spencer jumper, Alabama State pulled to within 13 on a Gee three-pointer with 5:33 to play and worked it to single digits on a lay-up from Branden Johnson with 3:05 to play to pull within eight at 68-60.

Back-to-back baskets from Ross pulled Alabama State to within 68-65 with 1:50 remaining, before Campbell got a jumper from Chris Clemons to extend the lead back to five at 70-65 with 1:17 to play.

Gee pulled Alabama State to within a pair at 70-68 on a Gee three-pointer with 1:10 to play, before the junior was fouled with 26 second to play. He went to the line and hit one of two free throws to get Alabama State to within one at 70-69 before the final frenzied seconds of the contest.

After a timeout with nine seconds remaining, Clemons got open for a layup and missed and Gene Davis gathered in the rebounds for Alabama State. He passed the ball quickly ahead to Ross who had his 30-footer go off the back of the rim, where Johnson had a tip at the buzzer but it was also off the rim.

The Hornets finished the day shooting 54.2 (26-of-48) percent from the floor and 36 (9-of-25) percent from beyond the arc, while also hitting 61.5 (8-of-13) percent from the free throw line. Meanwhile, Campbell shot 45.9 (28-of-61) percent from the floor and 32.4 (12-of-37) percent from beyond the arc. They hit just 28.6 (2-of-7) percent of their free throws.

Clemons finished with 36 points on 14-of-26 shooting from the floor, while hitting on 6-of-17 shots from beyond the arc. Andrew Eudy finished with 16 points and eight rebounds.

Alabama State returns to action January 5 against Grambling State at the Dunn-Oliver Acadome on Faith & Family Night.

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