No. 7 Alabama drops final home game of season to No. 5 Florida

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — No. 7 Alabama lost for the second game in a row and the fourth time in six games on Wednesday night, losing to No. 5 Florida 99-94 in its last home game of the season. The loss drops the Crimson Tide to 23-7 overall, 12-5 in the SEC.

On senior night, Alabama started all four of its scholarship seniors, as usual: Mark Sears, Chris Youngblood, Grant Nelson and Cliff Omoruyi. The fifth starter was freshman Labaron Philon, who’s been in the lineup for about two weeks.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Alabama started the game playing some great defense in the first few possessions, but Florida found an answer and made four straight field goals headed into the game’s first media timeout, holding a 9-6 lead.

Oats made a big lineup change after the first timeout, subbing out four starters and only leaving in Sears. The Crimson Tide went down by seven points, but quickly responded with a 9-0 run including five from Aiden Sherrell as it took a 2-point lead headed into the under-12 timeout.

As the first half continued, the game kept an exciting back-and-forth nature and an up-and-down pace. Sears had a nice scoring half, but did so in a variety of ways, including taking advantage of mid-range looks and post-ups.

Approaching the under-4 timeout Nate Oats burned a timeout and gave an earful to officials after a lot of Florida contact on the defensive end went uncalled. The game was tied at 31 points apiece, with just over four minutes remaining in the half.

Florida scored five quick points out of the timeout, but Alabama answered with another 9-0 run. the Gators ended up taking the lead back by halftime, leading 41-40 at the break. It was an excellent half from Sears, who had 16 points on 50 percent shooting from the field.

The second half got off to the same pace as the first half. The Crimson Tide outscored Florida 15-11 over the half’s first five minutes, getting some more important production from Sherrell. He hit a three to push his point total to double digits and give Alabama a 3-point lead entering the half’s first media timeout.

Again, the game flipped over the next 4-minute stretch. Florida went on a small run, taking a 3-point lead of its own at the under-12. The Gators had been excellent on the glass to this point in the game, holding a 13-rebound advantage over the Tide, something that very few teams have been able to do all year.

Florida then started to open it up. The Gators went on a big run to open up a 12-point lead, finding a nice rhythm offensively with the Alabama offense stalling majorly. At the under-8 timeout, Florida held a 75-63 lead, which they held for the next four minutes, still leading by 12 at the under-4.

The Tide made a run in the final minutes, cutting the lead as low as four points, but was unable to complete the miracle comeback.

PLAYERS OF THE GAME

Mark Sears — 30 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists

Labaron Philon — 19 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists

Aiden Sherrell — 10 points, 100% FG

WHAT’S NEXT

Alabama will hit the road for the regular season finale on Saturday afternoon, taking on No. 1 Auburn in Neville Arena. The game will tip off at 1:30 p.m. CT on ESPN.

Not a member, Alabama fans? Join BOL today!

Have you subscribed to BamaOnLine.com yet? You can sign up for ONE MONTH of premium access to our UA coverage for just $11.99! Be able to read all of BamaOnLine’s premium articles and nuggets covering UA sports and recruiting and also join thousands of other Crimson Tide fans around the globe on the BOL Round Table message board! CLICK HERE!