AUM edges Eagles 81-77
March 5
ROME, Ga. - Auburn Montgomery's Robert Johnson scored six points in the final minute and the Senators survived a frantic finish to advance in the Southern States Athletic Conference tournament with an 81-77 victory over Faulkner here Thursday night.
Johnson's heroics had handed the top-seeded Senators a 75-73 lead with 28 seconds to play. With a chance to tie or take the lead with a three, the Eagles opted to go down low to all-conference power forward Randell Moore, who was fouled with 16 seconds left. The junior missed both free throws, however, and the Senators slammed the door shut by making six straight free throws in the final seconds.
The game see-sawed back and forth throughout, with six lead changes occurring in a first half that ended with the Senators on top 37-31. Faulkner quickly found the range in the final 20 minutes, and took the lead at 49-48 with 13:42 left on a Moore putback. Neither team lead by more than three until the free-throw barrage in the closing seconds.
"We had our chances, but we just didn't make the plays when we had to,'' Faulkner coach Jim Sanderson said. "Give AUM credit, they did make the plays down the stretch. We're obviously very disappointed.''
No. 14 Auburn Montgomery advances to the SSAC semifinals at 7 Friday night and will face the winner of Thursday night's final game between Shorter and Southern Poly. Second-seed Lee plays Berry in the other semifinal. Saturday's championship game is set for 6 p.m.
Moore's 20 points led four players in double figures for the Eagles, who finish their season at 16-14. Josh Gholston added 17 for Faulkner, while Oneil Mangal had 14 and Reggie Dupree 12. The Senators were paced by the 26 points from Quadavious Brown. Johnson had 21, with Ronnie Hickman pitching in 14.