MONTGOMERY, Ala. --- The Auburn Montgomery men's basketball team held off a late charge by Florida Tech to secure an 88-84 win over the Panthers for their first victory as a full-fledged member of NCAA Division II on Saturday, Nov. 9 from the AUM Gymnasium.
 
NOTEWORTHY
- With the win, AUM improves to 1-1 on the year, and ups their all-time series advantage over Florida Tech to 2-0.
- Junior guard Jamichael Smart made his debut for the Orange and Black in the game. 
 
STANDOUT PERFORMERS
- Four different Warhawks scored in double figures, led by 21 points from Carlos Bell. The senior forward went 7-12 from the floor in the game, in addition to picking up five rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block.
- Aaron Reddick logged his first double-double of the season, with an 11-point, 10-rebound performance on the afternoon.
- Maharrith Jackson notched a season-high 14 points, while pulling down four boards.
- Darrion Taylor dished out a career-best 10 assists, while finishing one point shy of a double-double with nine points. 
- Stanley Davis added 13 points for AUM off the bench, going 4-8 on three-pointers.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Both teams exchanged blows early, as a Michael Bryant three-pointer put AUM up 10-9 at the 17:13 mark in the first.
- With the score reading 22-20 in AUM's favor at the 12:46 mark in the first, the Warhawks would rattle off a 15-3 run over the next five minutes of game time to take their largest lead of the night at 37-23.
- Florida Tech would chip away over the next few minutes, however, to trim AUM's lead to 49-40 at the half. 
- A layup by Bell to start the second half put AUM up by 11 at 51-40, but the Panthers would fight their way back into the game to cut AUM's lead to just four at the 15:46 mark in the second. 
- After going up 65-55 on a layup by Jackson with 12:01 left, the Panthers would rally over the next five minutes of game time to cut AUM's advantage to just two at the 7:23 mark. 
- AUM's lead would sway between two-possessions and one possession over the final minutes, until a Reddick put-back layup with 41 seconds left would give them an 86-80 lead. 
- Both teams would exchange free throws over the games final 30 seconds, until Florida Tech would miss a layup in the final seconds, to give AUM the ball back for good and clinch the 88-84 victory.
 
QUOTING THE COACH
 

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
- AUM shot 48 percent (31-64) from the floor on the day, while shooting 30 percent (10-33) on threes and 61 percent (16-26) from the charity stripe. 
- For the second-straight night, The Warhawks won the rebounding battle, out-rebounding Florida Tech 42-41. 
- The Warhawk bench proved to be pivotal in the game, accounting for 30 of the Orange and Black's points.
- AUM tallied 42 points in the paint, 20 fast-break points, 14 second-chance points, and 17 points off of Panther Turnovers. 
 
UP NEXT
- The men's basketball team will return to action on Wednesday, Nov. 13 when they take on Miles College in Fairfield, Ala. at 7:30 p.m.
 
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