Gators Ruin Senior Night For Alabama In Tide's Final Home Game

TUSCALOOSA, AL — The No. 5 Florida Gators dampened Senior Night festivities Wednesday with a 99-94 win over the No. 7 Crimson Tide (23-7, 15-4 SEC) in Coleman Coliseum.

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Senior guard Mark Sears, playing in his last game in Coleman Coliseum, paced the way for the Tide offense in a first half that saw seven lead changes, going 5-10 from the floor and 5-5 from the free throw line for 16 points. He finished the night with 30 points.

The Gators had a narrow 41-40 lead going into the locker room at halftime and especially dominated the boards in the first half, out-rebounding the Tide 24-18.

Alabama took advantage of a physical first half and won the battle at the charity stripe, shooting 78% as the Tide went 7-9.

A little more than halfway through the second half, the Gators got hot and pulled out to its largest lead of the night — a lead the squad from Gainesville wouldn't surrender the rest of the evening.

The Tide had five players score in double figures: Sears (30), Labaron Philon (19), Clifford Omoruyi (11), Aiden Sherrell (10), and Grant Nelson (10).

Philon drove the offense for the second half, with 15 of his 19 points coming in the game's final 20 minutes.

The Crimson Tide will close out the regular season on Saturday with a road matchup against No. 1 Auburn, who has already clinched the SEC regular season championship.

Tipoff is set for 1:30 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on ESPN.

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