Nate Ament, Ja’Kobi Gillespie lead Tennessee comeback victory at Alabama
By Andrew Olson
Published:
It has been an up-and-down season for Tennessee, but Nate Ament and Ja’Kobi Gillespie made sure the Volunteers won one of their biggest rivalry games on the schedule. The pair of Tennessee standouts combined for 53 points in the Vols’ 79-73 win over No. 17 Alabama in Tuscaloosa.
Alabama opened up a 10-point lead in the first half, going up 22-12 at the 9:38 mark. The Vols cut into that lead, getting it down to 39-36 at the break.
Ament and Gillespie carried the Vols through the second-half comeback. The 2 were responsible for 32 of Tennessee’s 43 second-half points.
The game’s high scorer, Ament had 29 points. He was 10-of-20 from the field, including 2-of-3 from 3-point territory. Gillespie was 8-of-20 on field-goal attempts and 2-of-9 on 3-pointers.
Alabama had 3 scorers in double figures. Labaron Philon led the Crimson Tide with 26 points. He shot 7-of-20 from the field, but notably missed his last 5 field-goal attempts.
As a team, the Tide finished with rough offensive numbers down the stretch. UA missed its last 5 field-goal attempts and made just 1 of the last 9. Alabama closed out on a scoring drought over the last 3:11 even as Tennessee did not make a field goal over the final 4:08.
Both teams are now 13-6 overall and 3-3 in SEC play. Tennessee travels to Georgia next, while Alabama will look to bounce back against Mizzou.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
