Men’s basketball wins in dominant fashion over Oakland

Austin Hannon, Staff Reporter

In what Alabama head coach Nate Oats called his team’s “most complete game” of the year, the Alabama Crimson Tide (4-0) defeated the Oakland Golden Grizzlies (2-2) 86-59 on Friday night.

Alabama’s guards once again led the way.

Junior Jaden Shackelford led the team with 20 points. Fellow junior Jahvon Quinerly added 19 of his own. Shackelford reached 1,000 total points in his career in the second half.

“He walked in as a freshman as one of the hardest working kids I’ve ever seen,” Oats said. “You can see why we wanted him back.”

Guard JD Davison had his best performance of his freshman year so far, with a 10-7-5 stat line. Davison also hit two threes.

Center Charles Bediako added three blocks as the defensive anchor for the Crimson Tide.

Guard Keon Ellis struggled for the first time this season, scoring only seven points on 1-for-6 shooting.

For Oakland, it was mostly a one man show. Forward Jamal Cain had 31 points and 10 rebounds. After the game, Oakland head coach Greg Kampe and Oats applauded the Marquette transfer.

“Kampe told me before the game that he is gonna be a pro, and I don’t doubt that,” Oats said.

The Golden Grizzlies held their own through the first eight minutes, trailing 15-13, but Alabama dominated for the rest of the game.

Following a 13-2 run, the Crimson Tide led 28-15 with 7:03 to play in the first half. Alabama built onto its lead during the last seven minutes of the half. The Crimson Tide led 38-26 at halftime, but turned the ball over nine times.

The second half was cleaner for the Crimson Tide. Alabama used the first nine minutes of the second half to go up 63-38 after a layup by forward Noah Gurley.

The Grizzlies never got back into the game. Oakland shot 30.2% from the field for the game.

The fans in Coleman Coliseum erupted after a step-back 3-pointer by forward Tyler Barnes. That was the cherry on top of a 27-point win.

Alabama hit 10 3-pointers and out-rebounded the Grizzlies by 16. The Crimson Tide only turned the ball over three times in the second half.

“We’ve been talking to our team about playing all sides of the ball for an entire 40 minutes,” Oats said. “I was really happy with our defensive effort. I thought offensively, you know, we didn’t make shots. We didn’t shoot well from 3 and still were able to put up 86 points on a tough zone … I’m happy with the overall effort tonight.”

Alabama now heads to Orlando, Florida, for the ESPN Events Invitational, where they will face off with the Iona Gaels on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 25.

The Crimson Tide won’t play another home game until Dec. 11, when the No. 15 Houston Cougars come to Tuscaloosa.

Questions? Email the Sports desk at [email protected].