No. 4 Alabama Pulls Away from No. 13 Hofstra to Advance to Round of 32

TAMPA, Fla.–– Alabama looked to be in danger of falling victim to another Cinderella story in March, but Labaron Philon Jr. made sure that wasn't going to happen.

Philon scored 21 of his 29 points in the second half, including a dagger 3-pointer to put the Tide up double digits with just under four minutes to go as No. 4 Alabama beat No. 13 Hofstra 90-70 in Tampa on Friday afternoon to advance to the Round of 32.

"Labaron told me he wasn't going home," Alabama head coach Nate Oats said after the game.

Hofstra's lead was as large as 10 points early on after the Pride went on a 16-2 run to take a 28-18 lead with 9:20 to go in the first half. Alabama was able to settle in and make some shots to take a 37-35 lead into the half.

The Crimson Tide came out strong out of the half, scoring the first seven points after the break. Hofstra didn't go down quietly. The Crimson Tide built up its lead to 13 points, and the Pride continually cut it down to five late in the second half before Alabama eventually pulled away.

"Somehow ended up up 2, as bad as we played in the middle of the first half," Oats said. "I thought our start to the second half was great.

Spurred on by Philon, Alabama finished the game on a 19-4 run to put away the Pride for good. Philon closed in on a triple-double with eight rebounds and seven assists to go along with the 17 points. The exclamation point on the game was a 3-pointer from forward Noah Williamson. It was just Williamson's third 3-pointer of the season.

Aiden Sherrell provided Alabama a Herculean effort on the glass with a career high 15 rebounds while also adding 15 points. Taylor Bol Bowen had one of his best performances of the season with 15 points of his own. The two helped the Tide mitigate the absence of second-leading scorer Aden Holloway, who is not with the team after getting arrested earlier in the week.

"I would say mindset-wise, got to be the same," Philon said. "Being a leader, I think I did a great job getting these guys ready for the game. It was a great feeling to get to Tampa and focus on basketball, focus on winning an NCAA Tournament game. We have a lot of young guys on the team. We had to prepare them, get them ready. The veteran guys, be ready to step up and lead those guys in the moment."

This is the fifth time in the last six seasons under Oats that the Crimson Tide has won at least one game in the NCAA tournament. Alabama (24-9) will now face 5-seed Texas Tech in the Round of 32 on Sunday. Game time and TV designation will be announced later in the day.

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