By SAM LANCE
Nick Saban is gone, so I guess Alabama is now a basketball school?
The Crimson Tide have certainly made it seem so after Nate Oats and company defeated Clemson, 89-82, on Saturday night to advance to the first Final Four in school history.
“We got down big early,” Oats said postgame on TBS. “Shoot we were down 13. Guys just hung in, hung in, hung in. Stuck with the plan.”
Senior point guard Mark Sears hit a dagger 3-pointer with 1:15 left on the clock to put Alabama up 82-75 and practically seal the game. He finished with a team-high 23 points and shot 7-of-14 from 3-point range to lead the Crimson Tide.
“I live for those moments” Sears said. “This is what March Madness is about. When you’re a kid, you want to be in these moments. It feels like my dream came true today.”
Alabama received a huge game from freshman forward Jarin Stevenson, who scored 19 points and made five 3-pointers off the bench. Senior foward Nick Pringle (16 points, 11 rebounds), sophomore guard Rylan Griffen (13 points, 8 assists) and senior forward Grant Nelson (8 points, 7 rebounds) also came up big when it counted.
Alabama will meet UConn next Saturday, April 6, in Phoenix for a spot in the National Championship game.
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