By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Sports Editor

CHARLESTON, S.C. – A strong 31-33 mark at the free throw line helped lead the Alabama Crimson Tide past the Wichita State Shockers 90-86 in the fifth-place game of the Charleston Classic on Sunday, Nov. 18.

After struggling in its opener of the tournament against Northeastern, the Crimson Tide rebounded with a 79-61 win against Ball State before taking down the Shockers for two consecutive wins to close out the tournament, which improved their overall record to 4-1.

A big reason for the win against Wichita State was former Pelham High School and All-County Player of the Year, Alex Reese. After receiving just 12 combined minutes with no points in the first two games of the tournament, Reese came off the bench against the Shockers and put up 19 points in 15 minutes of action to finish as the team’s second leading scorer.

He finished 4-7 from the field and 2-5 from beyond the arc, while shooting 90-percent (9-10) from the free throw line, including one in the final seconds that gave Alabama a four-point lead.

Freshman Kira Lewis also had an impressive game at the line draining 11-of-11 from the stripe, as he went on to have a team and career high 24 points.

The 19 points were Reese’s most in an Alabama uniform through five games of his sophomore season, as he looks to continue improvement from last year having gotten his weight down and his stamina up. He also added two rebounds and one assist in the victory.

As a team, Alabama shot 51 percent from the field, 47.4 percent from 3-point range and 93.9 percent from the free throw line, all of which were season highs.

Reese was part of a Bench effort that scored a combined 32 points thanks to his 19 points, Dazon Ingram’s eight points and Tevin Mack’s five points. Those three combined for 60 minutes of action in the game, giving the Crimson Tide some added depth.