MONTGOMERY, Ala. | Trace Young (Owensboro, Ky.) had a career-night against Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) leading Florida A&M, but the Hornets couldn't hold the lead in the waning seconds after battling back from a double-digit effort falling 66-65 at the Dunn-Oliver Acadome on Monday night.
Young finished with a career-high 29 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the Hornets, including knocking down a three-pointer with just 2:31 to play in the contest to give Alabama State their first lead at 65-64. The two teams each missed opportunities before Florida A&M turned a missed shot with just under 40 seconds left into a pair of free throws by Bryce Moragne with just 21 seconds to play to give the Rattlers a one-point lead.
Alabama State (5-15, 4-5 SWAC) had a chance to win the game in the final seconds but a shot fell short at the buzzer giving Florida A&M the win.
The Hornets battled back from a double-digit deficit for the second time in as many games, trailing by as many as 14 twice in the game including early in the second half before the rally.
Young was the lone player in double figures for Alabama State as he finished the night shooting 8-of-16 from the floor including four three-pointers. He also connected on 9-of-10 from the charity stripe in the loss for Alabama State who finished the night shooting 35.6 (21-of-59) percent from the floor and 33.3 (7-of-21) percent from beyond the arc. They also shot 69.6 (16-of-23) percent from the free throw line.
Meanwhile, MJ Randolph led Florida A&M (9-11, 7-2 SWAC) with 17 points, while Moragne finished with a double-double (16 points and 10 rebounds). The Rattlers finished the night shooting 46.2 (24-of-52) percent from the floor and 29.4 (5-of-17) percent from beyond the arc. They also finished the night at 68.4 (13-of-19) percent from the free throw line.
UP NEXT
Alabama State hits the road for a pair of games against two of the other top teams in the league in Grambling State and Southern this weekend. The Hornets begin the trip with an afternoon tilt against Grambling State on Saturday.
QUOTES from head coach Mo Williams
"It was a hard game, a tough game. We knew that coming in, they are a good basketball team. I thought we did a lot of good things in the second half; we didn't come out ready to play early and dug ourselves a hole. We were to dig ourselves out of it and take the lead late in the game. We had opportunities to win the game, this one hurt."
"He (Trace) was tremendous, I couldn't take him out in the second half. I thought he was great, I thought he had good energy in the second half. He scored a lot of buckets for us in the second half, which is good when you're not getting from a lot of places. When you get almost 30 from one guy, it opens a lot of things. We did what it took down the stretch, we just fell short at the end."
"It's a tough weekend. These three games right here, this stretch, are against the top three teams in our league right now. We knew this stretch was going to be tough, that's why this one hurt so bad because you have to go to Grambling and Southern before you can come back home."
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