Florida Gators
Alabama
Gators Pick Up Crucial Road Win At Alabama
Wednesday, January 28, 2004 | Men's Basketball
Anthony Roberson scored 26 points and David Lee added a season-high tying 24 as No. 17 Florida fought off a pesky Alabama team and eventually pulled away down the stretch in an 88-78 victory Tuesday evening at the Coleman Coliseum. The win ended Alabama's 11-game home winning streak, a run dating back to last season.
After Alabama took a 72-71 lead with 6:48 remaining in the game, Florida (13-4 overall, 4-2 Southeastern Conference) outscored the Crimson Tide (11-6, 3-3) 17-6 to close the game and seal the victory.
Kennedy Winston led three Alabama players in double figures in scoring with 25 points, while Matt Walsh was the third Gator in double digits with 13 points.
Roberson was 6-of-12 on the night from beyond the arc in moving into eighth place in school history with 123 career three-pointers.
Florida hit a blistering 56.4 percent of its shots on the night (31-of-55) and drained 44 percent of its threes (11-for-25), while committing just seven turnovers.
The Crimson tide took their first lead since early in the first half when Winston hit a three with 6:48 to play, giving Alabama a 72-71 advantage, but the Gators responded when Roberson converted on a three-point play to put Florida back on top, 74-72 with 6:31 left.
Alabama tied the game at 74-74 on a layup by Winston with 6:20 remaining, but Roberson tipped in a shot at the 5:21 mark as the Gators went ahead 76-74 and never looked back.
Florida scored the opening four points of the second half to cap a 10-0 run and take a 53-40 lead. But the Crimson Tide stormed back as Winston hit three consecutive three-pointers and Jermareo Davidson added two free throws to bring Alabama within two at 53-51 with 16:23 left to play.
The two teams went back and forth until Alabama's Antoine Pettway hit a three to pull the Crimson Tide within one at 64-63 with 10:17 remaining. But Roberson immediately answered with a 22-foot trey to bump the Gator lead back to four at 67-63 with 9:58 left.
In the opening stages of the game, after a pair of free throws by Alabama's Davidson gave the Crimson Tide a 10-9 lead with 15:08 left in the first half, the Gators went on a 15-4 run to take control of the contest during the next 3:32. Lee, who scored 15 first half points, led the charge with six points as Florida built a 24-14 lead.
Alabama closed within four in the first half when Chuck Davis sank a free throw with 1:58 left, but Roberson drained back-to-back threes to extend Florida's lead to 49-40 entering the locker room.
The Gators return to action Saturday, Jan. 31 when Florida travels to Tennessee with the game slated for a 3 p.m. tipoff.
