DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. | Alabama State battled back from a double-digit deficit in the first half to force overtime before falling 90-84 in Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) action to Bethune-Cookman at Moore Gymnasium on Monday night.
 
Alabama State (12-16, 7-8 SWAC) trailed by as many as 13 points in the first half before trading the lead with Bethune-Cookman seven times in the second half. The Hornets trailed by three with under two seconds to play when TJ Madlock was fouled and stepped to the line to sink all three free throws to tie the game up and send it to overtime.
 
Madlock finished with 23 points on the night, connecting on 13-of-15 free throws. He also finished with four rebounds and four assists to pace four players in double figures. Micah Octave added 15 points and eight rebounds, while CJ Hines added 14 points and three assists.
 
Amarr Knox added 10 off the bench for Alabama State who finished the night shooting 36.6 (26-of-71) percent from the floor and 26.5 (9-of-34) percent from beyond the arc. They also finished the night shooting 76.7 (23-of-30) percent from the free throw line.
 
Meanwhile, Jakobi Heady paced Bethune-Cookman with 24 points and Zion Harmon added 20 for the Wildcats who finished the night shooting 43.8 (32-of-73) percent from the floor.
 
How It Happened

• Alabama State shot 35.0 (14-of-40) percent from the floor and 25.0 (4-of-16) percent from beyond the arc in the first half. Meanwhile, Bethune-Cookman shot 60.7 (17-of-28) percent from the floor in the first half and 62.5 (5-of-8) percent from beyond the arc in the first half.
• The Hornets connected on 36.0 (9-of-25) percent from the floor and 28.6 (4-of-14) percent from beyond the arc in the second half. Meanwhile, Bethune-Cookman shot 27.0 (10-of-37) percent from the floor and missed all eight of its three-point opportunities.
• Alabama State won the rebounding battle 46-44 and forced Bethune-Cookman into seven turnovers.
• The Hornets recorded more second chance points (19-12), fast break points (21-12) and bench points (25-19).

Alabama State Notes

• Octave recorded a steal for the 26th time in 28 games with a first half steal against the Wildcats.
• Madlock shot 15 free throws on Monday night, giving him 30 free throw attempts in the pair of games in the state of Florida.
• The 13-point deficit was the largest the Hornets faced before coming back to take the lead in the second half and force overtime.
• Alabama State is in a three-way tie with Alabama A&M and UAPB with three games remaining on the schedule

Quotable from head coach Tony Madlock
Opening statement…
"Tough game, any time you go on the road you know how tough it is. We have been struggling and the game we just had at FAMU. To play that type of game we did on Saturday and turn around and play again on the road on a Monday is tough especially when you are not playing well. I have to give my guys a lot of credit. We didn't have a good first half but came out and had a great start to the second half. We fought and the three things we put on the board today were we have to compete, toughness, and I want to see fight. It was about those three things and I thought we did that for the most part, we just didn't come out on the right side of it."
 
Turn around and the next one up is Alabama A&M…
"I am going to give the guys a couple of days off, I want them to decompress. I want to make sure they are healthy and caught up on classwork. I want everyone to be fresh mentally, be fresh physically, and we will have a great game plan against Alabama A&M. It's a rival game and we have to find a way to win."
 
Up Next
Alabama State completes its three-game road trip on Saturday against Alabama A&M with a 4 p.m. tip scheduled in Huntsville.
 
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