Gardner-Webb Strong In 69-55 Win Over Alabama A-M In Season Opener
November 06, 2007 | Men's Basketball
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Junior point guard Aaron Linn poured in 24
points in his Gardner-Webb debut Tuesday, leading the Runnin'
Bulldogs to a convincing 69-55 win over Alabama A-M in Rupp
Arena.
Gardner-Webb (1-0) will face the winner of No. 20 Kentucky and
Central Arkansas on Wednesday night at 9 pm ET in the championship
round of the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic Lexington regional.
The game will be televised live nationally on ESPNU.
"This was a good win for us, and a good performance for a first
game," said GWU head coach Rick Scruggs. "The effort was definitely
there. Our kids played very hard, and we were very pleased with the
way they came out and got going."
Linn, a third-team junior college All-America selection last season
at Johnson County (Kan.) CC, scored 18 of his points in the first
half on 6-of-7 shooting – as Gardner-Webb opened up a tight
game with a late 7-0 run to lead 34-23 at intermission.
The Runnin' Bulldogs used hard-nosed effort on both ends to pull
away in the second half. Despite shooting just 28.1 percent in the
final 20 minutes, Gardner-Webb saw its lead widen – due mainly
to smothering perimeter defense and relentless attacks on the
offensive glass.
Alabama A-M (0-1), picked to finish fourth in the SWAC this season,
trimmed Gardner-Webb's lead to just seven points early in the
second half, but the Bulldogs' sophomore center – 6-foot-8
Auryn MacMillan – swung momentum back to GWU's side with a
thunderous three-point play, dunking on the nation's leading shot
blocker from a year ago – A-M's 6-foot-11 Mickell Gladness
– and drawing a foul.
The two teams traded baskets over the next few minutes, but Linn
came up with a baseline jumper to put GWU up 46-36 at the 12:56
mark – and drained a long three-pointer for a 49-36 lead just
34 seconds later.
Gardner-Webb extended that lead to 15 points and, with 6:16 left,
took a 63-43 lead when Grayson Flittner capped a personal 7-0 run
with a step-back three in front of the Bulldog bench. The lead
would remain in the 20-point range until the game's final minute,
when Alabama A-M knocked in a pair of late buckets for the final
margin.
In addition to Linn's big debut, which also included three
rebounds, three steals and three assists, Gardner-Webb got 10
points each from MacMillan (4-of-7 shooting) and freshman standout
Nate Blank. MacMillan added eight rebounds (four offensive and
blocked a shot in 24 minutes.
Sanders overcame a rough shooting night (3-of-18) to finish with
nine points, 14 rebounds and three steals.
GWU shot just 35.6 percent from the floor on Tuesday (21-of-59),
but clamped down on Alabama A-M on the other end – limiting
the Huntsville, Ala., program to just 17-of-49 shooting and
outrebounding the other Bulldogs by a 42-35 margin.
Gardner-Webb also forced 27 turnovers and pilfered 12 steals –
which helped produce 10 fast-break points for the ‘Dogs.
Evan Hilton led Alabama A-M with nine points, while Gladness
contributed eight points, 10 rebounds and seven blocks (four
fouls).
The win was Gardner-Webb's first in a season opener since the
2004-2005 campaign.
| Box Score: GWU 69, Alabama A&M 55 |
