Arthur Edwards was on the court for just over five minutes before he had to be helped to the locker room with an ankle injury.
With Edwards out of the lineup, Jacksonville State went on a 13-6 run to take a five point lead. When Edwards emerged from the locker room he was limping, but he didn’t let that stop him from scoring a three, only seconds after rejoining the game.
“We didn’t dig ourselves such a big hole because of Arthur’s presence on the floor,” coach Avery Johnson said. “[He] tweaked his ankle, [and] came right in the game and made a three from the right corner and that kind of gave us some energy.”
Alabama trailed by two points at the half, but retook the lead and pulled away to beat Jacksonville State 67-59 in overtime. No player scored more points than Edwards who finished the game with 16 points to match Jacksonville State’s Jared Hamilton.
Jimmie Taylor contributed seven of his 13 points, early in the second half as Alabama (8-3) used a 13-0 run to retake the lead from the Gamecocks. Johnson said Alabama is a different team when Taylor is playing, and leading, like he did in the second half of the game.
“Jimmie got us going in the second half,” Johnson said. “[He played] in the second half and overtime with that type of energy and focus, defending the basket for us, talking loudly on the floor [and] getting guys in our defensive system.”
Taylor wasn’t the only Alabama player to have a strong second half. Riley Norris had a quiet first half, grabbing two rebounds and scoring only two points, but he made play after play for the Crimson Tide down the stretch.
“When you pass the baseball stadium [under construction], you see all the guys with the hardhats on going to work and sweating- that’s Riley,” Johnson said. “Some guys can’t put on their hardhat every play in the game. He never backs down from anybody.”
Norris started the second half instead of Michael Kessens, who was taking Shannon Hale’s spot in the lineup. Playing multiple positions did not seem to bother Norris who finished the game with 11 total rebounds and 10 points.
Norris said he was grateful to his teammates for helping him get his second career double-double. This was the second consecutive true home game for the Crimson Tide that ended with one of Johnson’s players recording a double-double.
“The guys had their guy boxed out, so I just had to go and make the play,” Norris said. “I didn’t even know I got another double-double, but that’s good.”
Alabama had the chance to close the game out in regulation, but Retin Obasohan missed two free throws in the final two seconds when both teams were tied with 55 points. Johnson said he was proud of his team’s performance in overtime.
“In life, everything’s not going to go great no matter what type of effort you put in,” Johnson said. “We needed some experience playing an overtime game. Those are things you can’t simulate in practice.”
