MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Montevallo men's basketball suffered its first conference loss of the season at Auburn Montgomery, 93-85, on Saturday evening.
 
The Falcons took an early lead with an 6-0 run in the first three minutes before the Warhawks responded with a 7-0 run to take a 12-8 lead at the 15:56 mark. Junior forward Derek Moore ended the run on the next possession before a spinning finish in traffic from Brandon Fussell tied the game at 12-12. Montevallo took its second lead of the game at the 12:46 mark with a soft, left-handed finish from Fussell. Montevallo forward Jaylen Curry ended a 3:13 scoring drought from the Falcons with 9:45 to play before sophomore Tyson Sexton beat the shot clock with a triple from the top of the key to give UM a 22-19 lead. The Falcons lead 24-19 at the under-eight media timeout before Jay Gillispie extend Montevallo's lead to seven at the 6:04 mark with the second of just three Montevallo three-pointers on the night. AUM pulled back within three of the lead before Fussell moved the Falcons' advantage to 37-30 with 3:13 left in the half. The Warhawks outscored the Falcons 9-2 in the final three minutes of the half to head into the locker room at a 39-39 tie.
 
Montevallo led by as many as eight in the first half after shooting 50 percent from the floor on 13-of-26 shooting but struggled from long range with just a 2-for-11 mark in the first 20 minutes.
 
AUM struck first in the second half with a three from the corner before an old-fashioned three-point play from Curry gave the Falcons a 46-45 advantage with 17:27 on the clock. An Auburn Montgomery technical foul lead to four-straight free-throw makes from Fussell and Moore. The Warhawks answered with a 29-second 5-0 run to tie the game at 52-52 with 16:13 to play before taking the lead out of the media timeout. On the next possession, Moore snapped the run with a reverse lay-up at the end of the shot clock. Back-to-back post finishes from Curry regained UM's lead before Fussell eclipsed 20 points with 12:00 to play. Three minutes later, AUM tied the game at 68-68 with a four-point play before jumping out to a 77-71 lead with a 10-3 run. With 5:58 on the clock, the Falcons pulled back within three before AUM extended its lead to nine with five minutes left. With 1:25 left, Tyson Sexton cut the lead down the 87-83 but AUM's 6-for-8 mark from the free throw line gave the Warhawks a 93-85 win.
 
Montevallo finished with a 52.8-percent shooting mark on the night and 48 points in the paint while Brandon Fussell (25) and Derek Moore (21) combined for 46 of UM's 85 points.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Score: Montevallo 85 | AUM 93
Records: Montevallo 10-3 (6-1 GSC) | AUM 6-6 (3-4 GSC)
Location: AUM Athletics Complex | Montgomery, Ala.
 
GAME NOTES

• The Falcons 52.8-percent clip from the floor is the fourth highest in a game this season while Montevallo's 17.6-percent mark from long range is the lowest of the season.
• The Falcons dominated the paint, outscoring AUM 48-22 inside and taking a 38-27 advantage on the glass.
• UM's 38 rebounds are the second-most in a conference game this season and the most in a road game.
• Brandon Fussell led the game with 25 points on 9-of-15 shooting and 7-for-7 from the charity stripe while dishing out six assists and recording two steals.
• Derek Moore scored 21 points on 7-of-8 shooting and 6-of-6 from the line to game with five rebounds and four assists.

 
UP NEXT: Montevallo heads to Huntsville, Ala. to take on Alabama Huntsville on Thursday, Jan. 9 in a battle between two of the top teams in the Gulf South Conference.