Even with a season high by Chris Greene and 13 of 14 free-throw shooting by Shaun Doss Jr., the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff men's basketball team still could not pull out a clutch victory Monday.
Greene's 31 points and Doss' 21 were not enough as Alabama A&M handed the Golden Lions their fourth loss in a row, 75-72, before 1,621 at H.O. Clemmons Arena.
UAPB (10-16, 6-7 Southwestern Athletic Conference) has dropped each of its last four by 4 points or less and five of its last six overall after posting a five-game winning streak. A team that was once in the top three in SWAC standings is still hanging around in a sixth-place tie with Alabama State University with five games remaining, needing to finish just eighth or better to make the SWAC tournament next month.
Greene shot 10 for 13 from the floor, going 8 for 11 from 3-point range. The graduate student also totaled 4 rebounds.
Doss made only 4 of 11 from the field, but made up for it with strong free throw shooting. Zach Reinhart was the next closest Lion to double-figure scoring with 6 points.
UAPB made just 21 of 30 free throws (70%), 20 of 51 field goals (39.2%) and 11 of 28 from the perimeter (39.3%). Alabama A&M (11-15, 7-6) went 19 for 28 (67.9%) at the foul line, but made 23 of 53 (43.4%) from the floor, including 10 of 19 from beyond the arc (52.6%).
Messiah Thompson scored 24 points and had 5 assists for the Bulldogs, and Dailin Smith followed with 13 points. Cameron Tucker and Garrett Hicks each added 9 points.
UAPB led 31-29 at halftime and was ahead 47-40 with 14:39 left in regulation before Alabama A&M clawed its way back and went ahead 57-56 with 6:08 remaining on a Smith layup.
Smith also sank a 3-pointer with 2 minutes to go to give the Bulldogs a 70-61 edge.
After trading free throws, A.C. Curry pulled the Lions within 74-71 with 32 seconds left. Tucker made 1 of 2 free throws and Doss did the same on the other end to shape the final score.
The Lions will visit Prairie View A&M University for a 5:30 p.m. tipoff Saturday.
HIGH SCHOOL BOYS
Dollarway 51, DeWitt 50 (Mon.)
In Harmony Grove (near Camden) on Monday, Dollarway (10-14) needed all of Takylan Pace's 21 points and Aiden Filhiol's 17 points to advance to the second round of the District 3A-8 tournament.
Dollarway faced McGehee on Tuesday for an automatic bid in the 3A Region 4 playoffs next week.
DeWitt finished 9-19.
In girls action, DeWitt beat Dollarway 50-13 Monday. Dollarway finished the season 2-18.