National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Alabama 62, Northeastern 43
When: 9:00 PM ET, Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Where: Coleman Coliseum, Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Officials: # Kevin Mathis, # Ramie Styons, # Glenn Tuitt
Attendance: 2889


Alabama 62, Northeastern 43: Levi Randolph scored 13 points as the Crimson Tide cruised past the visiting Huskies in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament.

Trevor Lacey finished with 11 points and Trevor Releford added nine points, five steals and five rebounds for Alabama (22-12), which will meet Stanford in the second round.

Jonathan Lee had 13 points and Reggie Spencer finished with 10 for Northeastern (20-13), which earned an automatic bid to the NIT by virtue of winning the regular-season Colonial Athletic Association title.

The Crimson Tide recovered from their 61-51 loss to Florida in the SEC tournament semifinals Saturday, racing out to a 24-7 lead behind seven points from Releford. But Northeastern rebounded with a 16-4 run over the final 7:38 to close to within 28-23 at halftime.

The Huskies crept to within 28-27 on back to-back jumpers by Lee to start the second half, but Alabama blew the game open with a 22-0 run over the next eight minutes highlighted by a dunk and 3-pointer by Randolph. Northeastern could get no closer than 16 points the rest of the way.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Northeastern's top scorer, senior guard Joel Smith (16.1 points), did not play because of an undisclosed injury suffered in the CAA tournament. Smith scored six points before fouling out in the Huskies' CAA tournament championship game loss to James Madison. ... Because of a few flight delays and cancellations, it took Northeastern 20 hours to make the trip from Boston to Tuscaloosa. The Huskies left on a charter at 4 a.m. on Tuesday morning. ... Releford's five steals gave him 66 for the season and increased his school-record career total to 190.

Top Game Performances
 
Northeastern   Alabama
Jonathan Lee 13 Scoring Levi Randolph 13
Jonathan Lee 3 Assists Trevor Lacey 4
Quincy Ford 9 Rebounds Moussa Gueye 6
Quincy Ford 6 Free Throws Made Trevor Lacey 4
Marco Banegas-Flores 1 Steals Trevor Releford 5
Reggie Spencer 1 Blocks Rodney Cooper 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Northeastern 43 33.3 5-16 8-12 7 22 1 3 15
Alabama 62 45.5 4-19 8-10 8 34 2 7 12