Alabama Wins Second C.M. Newton Classic against Illinois

The Alabama Crimson Tide travels an hour to Birmingham to play the Illinois Fighting Illini in the C.M. Newton Classic in Legacy Arena at the BJCC. The C.M. Newton Classic first took place on December 21, 2021. The neutral-site basketball game honors former University of Alabama Men's Basketball coach C.M. Newton.

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In just the first few minutes after tipoff, Alabama and Illinois traded scores back and forth before the Crimson Tide were able to pull off an eight-point lead. Grant Nelson is the impact player on the floor to start the first half leading the team with 13 out of the 21 points scored so far.
Nelson shot 5-8 before being subbed out at 12 minutes left in the first half. Despite the barrage of scoring from both teams, Alabama has been able to keep a consistent lead over Illinois with a score of 29-19 going into the first time out of the half.

A second timeout was called at the 8:32 mark of the first half, to which the Crimson Tide extended their lead making the score 36-19. Alabama had a 13-2 run over four minutes and 29 seconds.

At half-time, Grant Nelson is still leading the scoring charge shooting 7-10 FG, 4-7 from the three-point line, and 1-1 on free throws for 19 points total.
Aden Holloway is second in scoring for this first half, with 11 points total while shooting a perfect game so far. Holloway is 4-4 FG, 2-2 from the three-point line, and 1-1 from the free throw.

This Alabama team as a whole is 21-40 on shooting which gives them a 53% FG, 35% from the three-point line making 8 of 23 attempts, and shooting 100% from the free throw line.

Not any different during the second half as the Crimson Tide continues to dominate the fighting Illini, sending them back home with a humiliating loss in the C.M Newton Classic. The number 8 ranked Alabama is 4-1 after tonight's 100-87 win against a number 25 ranked Illinois.

The leaders for tonight's game are:

Scoring: Grant Nelson: 23 Points, 9-15 FG, 4-9 3FG, 1-1 Free-throw

Assists: Labaron Philon: 9 Assists

Rebounds: Grant Nelson: 8 Rebounds

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