Alabama Crimson Tide guard Mark Sears (1) takes the ball up the courtroom in the course of the second half of an NCAA Event First Spherical sport in opposition to the Robert Morris Colonials at Rocket Area on Friday, March 21, 2025, in Cleveland, Ohio. Second-seeded Alabama and its East Area second spherical opponent, No. 7 seed Saint Mary’s, come into Sunday’s matchup in Cleveland every having obtained a dose of high-stakes basketball.
The Crimson Tide (26-8) held off a stiff problem from Horizon League champion and No. 15 seed Robert Morris, 90-81, behind 22 factors and 10 assists from Mark Sears — and with an unanticipated contribution from Grant Nelson.
Nelson, who sustained a knee damage in final week’s Southeastern Convention event, suited up on Friday however was questionable to play. With Robert Morris remaining inside one or two possessions of Alabama, Nelson performed seven minutes down the stretch.
“We did not play in addition to we had hoped, and Grant was like, ‘We’re not going residence, put me in,'” Crimson Tide coach Nate Oats mentioned.
Sears and Nelson led Alabama’s run to the 2024 Ultimate 4, and the duo are once more the Tide’s prime scorers. Sears leads the way in which with 18.8 factors per sport, whereas Nelson is second at 11.6. Sears additionally leads Alabama with 5.1 assists per sport, and Nelson is the group’s prime rebounder at 7.5 boards per sport.
“I feel he’ll be all proper,” Oats mentioned of Nelson’s standing for Sunday. “We have got to get him a bunch of rehab as a result of we’ll for certain want him… (Saint Mary’s has) received loads larger entrance courtroom (than Robert Morris).”
The Gaels (29-5) leveraged their frontcourt size for a 41-28 rebounding edge of their come-from-behind, 59-56 win over Vanderbilt.
Saint Mary’s grabbed 9 of its 10 offensive boards within the second half, together with Mitchell Saxen coming down with certainly one of his 11 rebounds in whole within the ultimate minute to earn a visit to the free-throw line.
The play proved crucial, forcing Vanderbilt to take a contested 3-pointer on its ultimate possession.
“An enormous a part of the rebounding for us is attrition,” Gaels coach Randy Bennett mentioned. “We simply maintain coming, maintain coming, maintain coming.”
Saint Mary’s heads into the second spherical ranked second nationally in offensive rebounding proportion. The Gaels frontcourt dimension helps: Saxen is 6-foot-10 and 250 kilos, whereas Harry Wesseis is 7-foot-1, 275 kilos.
However Saint Mary’s guards additionally crash the boards successfully, evident on Friday with wings Luke Barrett grabbing 10 rebounds, Augustas Marciulionis arising with eight, and Jordan Ross’ three together with a victory-sealing snare.
Alabama has dimension of its personal, notably if the 6-foot-11 Nelson is ready to contribute extensively. Nelson is ready to stretch ground, shifting out to the perimeter, when 6-foot-11 Clifford Omoruyi is on the courtroom with him.
In any other case, the Crimson Tide may make use of a smaller, quicker lineup emphasizing efficient perimeter scorers Labaron Philon and Aden Holloway, who’ve averaged 10.6 and 11.2 factors per sport.
Saint Mary’s is unlikely to waver from its sport plan no matter the kind of lineups it sees on Sunday.
“It is only a distinction in types. (Opponents will) go down (in) dimension and play with one massive and…simply type of stretch you out,” Bennett mentioned of groups trying to neutralize the Gaels inside size this season. “As a result of we now have Saxen, we are able to guard that stuff higher than individuals assume. We’ve got two 5s on the market, Mitchell can guard 4s.”
–Area Stage Media
