Freshman guard Jaden Shackelford came off the bench to score a season-high 28 points as Alabama pulled away late Sunday night for a 90-78 victory over Richmond in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Shackelford hit a season-high six 3-point baskets in 13 attempts and came up just two rebounds short of his first career double-double. Kira Lewis Jr. and John Petty added 17 apiece for the Crimson Tide (7-5), who have won five of their last six outings to go two games over .500 for the first time this season.
Averaging 11 made 3-point field goals a game entering the day, the Crimson Tide were 12 of 30 from long range while the Spiders (10-3) were only 6 of 24 on 3s in losing their second game in a row.
Guard Jacob Gilyard led the Spiders with 21 points and guard Jake Wojcik scored 17. Junior forward Grant Golden posted his 13th career double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds
The Tide came out of the halftime break and hit four of their first five attempts from long range to build a double-digit lead, 57-47 little more than five minutes into the second half.
They eventually worked their way to a 16-point advantage, 67-51 midway through the period before the Spiders regained their footing.
The Spiders' 16-5 run over a 3:32 span got them to within 72-67 with 6:59 remaining but they could get no closer.
Richmond held an early 10-5 lead before the Tide went on an 11-0 to take a lead they would hold onto for the rest of the game. They led by as many as nine points before the Spiders went on an 8-0 spurt to close to with 38-37 with 1:40 left in the period. Bama led 43-39 at the break.
--Field Level Media
Richmond | Alabama | |
Jacob Gilyard 21 | Scoring | Jaden Shackelford 28 |
Jacob Gilyard 4 | Assists | Kira Lewis Jr. 4 |
Grant Golden 11 | Rebounds | Herbert Jones 10 |
Jacob Gilyard 10 | Free Throws Made | Jaden Shackelford 6 |
Jacob Gilyard 3 | Steals | Herbert Jones 2 |
Tyler Burton 1 | Blocks | John Petty Jr. 2 |