WINTER PARK, Fla. – The Auburn Montgomery Men's Basketball Team opened up the 2021-22 season with an 83-81 victory over Florida Tech on Friday, Nov.12.
 
The win marks for the Warhawks' first season-opening victory since 2018-19 and improves their overall record against the Panthers to 3-0.
 
Four Warhawks scored in double figures, led by a 20-point performance from Sam Youngblood. Youngblood knocked down a game-high eight field goals, including a 4-7 day on three-pointers.
 
Jeremiah Bozeman and James Graham both finished one rebound shy of a double-double, with Bozeman tallying 19 points and nine boards and Graham accounting for 15 points and nine rebounds. Isaiah Hart recorded 15 points in his regular-season debut for AUM, to go along with five rebounds and a team-high three assists. 
 
AUM shot 48 percent from the field in half number one, highlighted by a 4-9 (44%) clip from three-point land and holding FIT to just 1-6 on threes. 
 
Both teams exchanged baskets over the first five and a half minutes, with the score reading 11-9 in AUM's favor at the 14:20 mark.
 
After exchanging leads over the next six minutes the Panthers held a 30-27 lead with 8:21 to go, but Youngblood would go on to score seven unanswered points to put AUM up 34-30.
 
FIT would battle back to make it a 36-36 game at the 3:39 mark, and would outscore AUM 8-6 over the final three minutes to lead 44-42 at the break. 
 
The second half saw both teams start slow, with the score reading 49-all at the 14:55 mark after a Youngblood trey. Both teams tallied six more points over the next four minutes, as the score would read 55-55 after a Graham jumper with 10:24 to go. 
 
The Panthers would go on to take a 64-59 lead with 7:51 left but AUM would rattle off an 8-3 run to tie the game at 67-67 with 5:40 left after a pair of Hart free throws. 
 
AUM's lead would switch between one and two possessions over the final five minutes, going up by as many as five with just a minute left to play.

After a pair of free throws from FIT cut AUM's advantage to 81-79 with 14 seconds left, Bozeman would go on to ice the game with a 2-2 trip at the charity stripe on the ensuing possession.
 
The Warhawks shot just under 45 percent (30-67)  from the floor on the day, highlighted by an 18-22 performance from the free throw line. Free-throw shooting proved to be pivotal in the second half, with AUM knocking down 12 of 14 foul shots to help clinch the victory. 
 
The Warhawks out-rebounded FIT in the game, 44-41, while accounting for 38 points in the paint. 
 
The men's basketball team faces a quick turnaround, with a 3:30 p.m. (CST) tipoff at Rollins College on Saturday, Nov. 13 up next.
 
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