No. 7 Alabama stuns No. 1 Auburn in overtime upset

Mark Sears connected on a 15-foot floater as time expired in overtime to give No. 7 Alabama a dramatic 93-91 victory over top-ranked Auburn in Southeastern Conference play on Saturday afternoon.Sears had a quiet game with nine points but hit the big shot to give the Crimson Tide (24-7, 13-5 SEC) a regular-season split with the Tigers. Grant Nelson led Alabama with 23 points and eight rebounds, Clifford Omoruyi had a 15-point, eight-rebound effort and Labaron Philon also added 15 points in the upset.Johni Broome notched a career-high 34 points and added eight rebounds, five blocked shots and three steals for Auburn (27-4, 15-3).Tahaad Pettiford had 19 points and six assists while Miles Kelly added 13 points for the Tigers.Despite the setback, Auburn will be the No. 1 seed at next week’s SEC tournament and the Crimson Tide will be No. 3.Alabama shot 52.2 percent from the field, including 7 of 22 from 3-point range. The Tigers connected on 47.9 percent of their attempts and were 10 of 26 from behind the arc.Auburn’s Chad Baker-Mazara was ejected with 10:52 left in the game after delivering a hard forearm into the neck and head of Alabama’s Chris Youngblood.In overtime, Philon stole the ball from Pettiford and drove for a layup with 2:10 remaining in overtime to give Alabama an 85-83 advantage.Broome drained a wide-open straightaway 3-pointer to put Auburn up one with 1:43 left. Nelson answered with a putback and Sears made two free throws as the Crimson Tide led 89-86 with 41.4 seconds left.

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