Tide Finishes Maui Tourney With Victory

LAHAINA, Hawaii – Defense was the key as the Alabama Crimson Tide defeated St. Joseph’s, 58-48, in the Crimson Tide’s final game at the EA Sports Maui Invitational in men’s basketball action before a capacity crowd of 2,500 Wednesday at the Lahaina Civic Center on the island of Maui.

Alabama scored the final 10 points of the first half and had a 28-17 lead at intermission. The 18 points were the fewest allowed by Alabama in a half since holding Georgia to 17 first half points in a 75-47 win on Jan. 30, 2005, in Tuscaloosa.

Alabama won two of three games in the tournament, coming back to defeat Chaminade and St. Joseph’s after having dropped its tourney-opening game to Oregon. Alabama improved to 3-2 on the season, while St. Joseph’s dropped to 2-3.

Alabama returns to action hosting Alabama A&M at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Coleman Coliseum.

Alonzo Gee scored 19 points, grabbed 8 rebounds and blocked a shot to lead the Tide against St. Joseph’s.

Senario Hillman added 10 points for Alabama, including a key sequence in which he blocked a shot, converted a steal into a dunk to spark a decisive Crimson Tide surge late in the game. Forward Yamene Coleman was also crucial to the Alabama effort in the second half with 8 points, 3 rebounds and 1 blocked shot. Forward Demetrius Jemison also helped the Tide on the boards with 5 rebounds.

Tasheed Carr led St. Joseph’s with 23 points while Ahmad Nivins had 16 with 8 rebound

Part of Alabama’s ability to hold St. Joseph’ to 18 first-half points was strong rebounding on both ends of the court. Alabama held a 15-2 rebounding edge at 11:06 of first half, and lead the rebounding battled 23-10 at the half.

The win by Alabama tied the series with St. Joe’s at 1-1.