Tide opens season with a slam dunk, defeating Florida A&M 76-37

TUSCALOOSA, AL - In an exhibition game four nights earlier, Alabama was pushed into double overtime before pulling out a 73-68 victory over an NCAA Division II team. That was slow time. This was showtime. That was Alabama-Huntsville. This was Florida A&M, a Division I opponent. This was a slam dunk.

The Crimson Tide went for style points Friday night and came away with a 76-37 victory over the Rattlers in its season opener at Coleman Coliseum. Nine of Alabama's 32 field goals were slam dunks. Six were 3-pointers. "That's probably the most fun we've had," said junior forward JaMychael Green, who led the way with four dunks and 14 points.

Men's Basketball Opens With Win

Alabama had an easy time of it in its season-opening game Friday night, defeating Florida A&M 76-37, in Coleman Coliseum. In a preliminary game, the Bama women defeated Tennessee State, 82-55, also the season-opener. Grant gave sophomore guard Ben Eblen his first start, joining freshman point guard Trevor Releford, senior guard Senario Hillman, sophomore forward Tony Mitchell and junior post man JaMychal Green.

“Chris Hines had a medical issue yesterday and missed practice. Nothing major,” Grant said. “I just put Ben in the lineup today. Ben has done a good job in practice in terms of what we asked.“ The first three men off the bench, all entering around the 15-minute mark of the first half, were senior guard Charvez Davis (recovered from minor hernia surgery), senior forward Chris Hines, and freshman guard Charles Hankerson.

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