LSU puts away Alabama after three overtimes

Updated: Feb 23, 2013, 05:12 pm

BATON ROUGE, La. -- Johnny O'Bryant capped a 24-point, 10-rebound performance by hitting two free throws inside the final 10 seconds of the third overtime, and LSU held on for a 97-94 victory over Alabama on Saturday.

O'Bryant's strong inside basket gave the Tigers the lead for good at 91-90 with 2:18 to go in the last extra session, and Anthony Hickey added a clutch 3 from the right corner to make it 94-90 with 1:19 left. That allowed LSU (16-9, 7-7 Southeastern Conference) to finally capitalize on its 10-point comeback inside the final three minutes of regulation and hand Alabama (18-9, 10-4) its first loss in five games.

For the Crimson Tide, the loss spoiled Trevor Releford's career-best 36-point performance on 14-of-18 shooting, including 4 of 4 from 3-point range. The junior also had three steals, making him the Crimson Tide's all-time leader in that department with 178.