Alabama beats Ole Miss in double OT

TUSCALOOSA – Looking for a hero in Alabama’s gut-wrenching 69-67 double-overtime victory over Ole Miss Saturday night?

Crimson Tide coach Anthony Grant found a bunch of them.

JaMychal Green led the Tide with 16 points, played well at the end of regulation and even better than that when things looked bleak in the first overtime.

Tony Mitchell returned to life by scoring four of Alabama’s eight points in the extra overtime session. But he also dove on the floor for loose balls a couple of times and blocked a key shot.

Andrew Steele came off the bench, played 32 minutes and scored three of his seven points in the second overtime. In fact, his leaning jumper just ahead of the shot clock gave Alabama a 65-62 lead with 31 seconds remaining. He added one of two free throws with 15 seconds remaining to make it a four-point lead.

And Charles Hankerson scored 10 points, made a key assist and added a steal in 13 crucial minutes, giving teammates a spark when the Tide trailed 41-34 with less than 12 left in regulation.

“That was all about heart and passion tonight,” Grant said after the marathon. “We had a lot of guys out there that put it all on the line tonight.”

Nearly every statistic showed how close the game was. Ole Miss was 26 for 61 from the field (42.6 percent); Alabama was 27-for-68 (39.7 percent). The Tide had a 42-40 rebounding edge and a two-point advantage in points in the paint (36-34). Both teams had 16 points off turnovers.

But Alabama (15-7, 4-4 SEC) enjoyed a 34-8 advantage with its bench.

‘That’s always big, when you look at the effort we got out of a variety of guys,” Grant said. “Andrew comes in. (Rodney) Cooper gave us some big minutes, played well defensively and hit a big 3-pointer. Moussa (Gueye) came in and helped us. Ben Eblen came in and ran the team.

“We need that. I told our guys this needed to be a style of play game. They’re one of the more physical teams not just in our league, but in the country. We couldn’t let them dictate the tempo on us.”

Regulation ended with a 54-all tie. Alabama fought back from a 41-34 deficit in the final 12 minutes. Green hit a jumper that cut it to 51-50 with under three minutes left. He hit two foul shots at the 2:11 mark to put the Tide ahead. It looked like Alabama would win in regulation when freshman Levi Randolph his a layup with less than two minutes left that gave the Tide a 54-51 lead.

But the Rebels’ Terrance Henry made a three-point play with 57 seconds to play and neither team scored in the closing seconds.

In the first overtime, Alabama again looked to have the upper hand before Green rescued the Tide. His tip-in tied the game. Then, he picked up his fourth foul against Reginald Buckner, but the Rebel missed both foul shots.

On the other end of the floor, Green successfully converted a three-point play – and drew Buckner’s fifth foul in the process.

Two Nick Jacobs free throws put Alabama up 61-56 with 2:07 left.

But Nick Williams, who starred at LeFlore High in Mobile, hit a jumper in the paint and knocked down a 3-pointer with 45 seconds left to tie the game.

Henry blocked Jacobs’ inside shot and the Rebels (14-8, 4-4) had an inbounds play with 4.2 seconds left.

Jarvis Summers took the pass and momentarily had a clear path to the basket. But Alabama point guard Trevor Releford chased him from behind, deflected the ball and Alabama recovered, forcing a second overtime.

“I thought the Red Sea parted and he had a layup,” Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy said.

Asked about Releford, who scored just seven points but had five steals and four assists, the Rebel coach added, “He made a play when his team needed it. That separates winning from misery.”

In the second overtime, Releford got a steal from Summers, tipped it ahead to Steele, who passed back to the streaking Mitchell for a dunk that ignited the crowd with 2:17 to play. That put Alabama ahead 63-62. Mitchell, who finished with 14 points while coming off the bench for the first time all season, hit two foul shots with 1:18 left to put the Tide up 65-62.

Henry scored for Ole Miss to cut it to a point. Releford penetrated on Alabama’s next possession, but with the shot clock winding down lost control of the ball. He batted it toward Steele.

“I picked it up and saw 3 on the shot clock and tried to get it up to the basket,” the junior said.

It went in. Ole Miss rushed a shot for an air ball and Steele made one of two foul shots that made it a two possession game with 15 seconds left. Williams had an attempt blocked by Mitchell. Releford hit one of two foul shots for a 69-64 Alabama lead.

A 3-pointer by Summers at the buzzer made it 69-67.

Hankerson played just 13 minutes, but scored 10 points – five of which came in a two-minute cluster that erased a 41-34 Ole Miss lead.

“He was tremendous,” Green said of Hankerson. “Great job on defense, knocking down big shots for us.”

“How hard he played rubbed off on the rest of us,” Steele added.

Grant said the off thing was Hankerson had minor knee surgery last Monday and nobody knew how much he could play.

“He returned to practice Friday,” Grant said. “But it was evident he played with great energy, great passion. Those things were certainly needed by our team.”