MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Auburn Montgomery Men's Basketball Team opened up the 2022 portion of its schedule with a 68-61 home win over Lee University in Gulf South Conference action on Sunday, Jan. 2.
 
The win improves AUM's record to 4-9 on the year and 1-4 in GSC play.
                                           
Sam Youngblood led a quartet of Warhawks that scored in double figures with 20 points on an 8-11 shooting night. The freshman guard also pulled in five rebounds while going 4-6 on three-pointers.
 
James Graham and Jeremiah Bozeman both scored 13 points, with Bozeman pulling down a game-high eight rebounds. Graham logged six boards and blocked a career-high six shots, the most blocks in a game by a Warhawk since the 2019-20 season.
 
Isaiah Hart registered 10 points on team-high four assists while Deven Tucker brought down six rebounds and scored six points.  
 
AUM outscored Lee 10-6 over the first five minutes, with Youngblood accounting for eight points with a pair of threes.
 
The Flames would make it a 14-13 contest in favor of AUM at the 10-minute mark, but the Warhawks would go on to knock down their next four shots as part of a 9-2 run to go up 23-15 with 6:04 left in the half.
 
Lee got back to within two points after a layup at the 3:30 mark trimmed AUM's lead to 23-21, but the Warhawks would respond with eight unanswered points to go up 31-21. The Flames would go on to tally the half's final five points to see a halftime score of 31-28 in favor of the Warhawks.
 
Both teams battled back and fourth over the first five minutes of the second half, with a Graham layup at the 12:46 mark tying the score at 41-all. From there, the Warhawks would go on to knock down six of their next 11 shots as part of a 14-8 run over the next seven minutes to lead 55-49 at the 5:54 mark.
 
A three-ball by the Flames at the 1:12 mark tied up the score at 59-all, but the Warhawks would respond on the ensuing possession with a trey from Youngblood to retake the lead and kick start a 9-2 run to close out the contest and seal the victory.
 
The Warhawks shot 48 percent in both halves to finish the game 26-54 from the floor. AUM shot 44 percent (4-9) from three and 76 percent (12-16) on free throws.
 
AUM tallied 34 points in the paint, 21 points off turnovers, and eight second-chance points while also out-rebounding Lee 32-30. Sunday's contest featured eight lead changes and five tied scores.
 
"We showed a lot of character and a lot of fight tonight," Bozeman said. "To fight the way we did with only seven players available to play really says a lot about our character. I'm proud of the way we were able to play gritty defense and get big stops when we needed to against a very talented Lee team. We have to keep this same energy and fight going forward to keep having success."
 
The men's basketball team will return to action on Thursday, Jan. 6 at Christian Brothers University at 7:00 p.m. (CST). As a reminder, due to a record number of active COVID-19 cases in Shelby County, Christian Brothers' home basketball contests will be played without spectators until further notice.
 
Links to coverage for Thursday's GSC contest in Memphis can be found on the men's basketball schedule.
 
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