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Doyne, Sanders lead Mississippi past Alabama

Feb 11, 2007 - 6:00 AM OXFORD, Mississippi (Ticker) -- With a chance to go to the top of the division standings, Mississippi turned to the duo of Bam Doyne and Clarence Sanders.

Doyne scored 17 points and Sanders added 16 as the Rebels posted a 75-69 Southeastern Conference victory over No. 19 Alabama.

Dwayne Curtis had 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds and Todd Abernathy added 13 and six assists for Ole Miss (16-8, 5-5 SEC West), which moved into a first-place tie with Alabama in the conference's Western Division.

"Our guys didn't quit," Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy said. "We are starting to believe that we can play with anyone."

Doyne shot 4-of-12 from the field and Sanders scored 11 points in the second half for the Rebels, who have won three straight and four of their last five games.

Curtis connected on 6-of-9 shots and Abernathy was 3-of-6 from 3-point range for Mississippi, which shot 47 percent (25-of-53).

"A huge stat for us in the game was that we only had five turnovers," Kennedy said. "We were able to get our hands on timely loose balls and timely rebounds."

Richard Hendrix scored 18 points and hauled in eight rebounds for the Crimson Tide (18-6, 5-5 West) who have lost eight of their last 10 here.

"Give Ole Miss and coach Andy Kennedy a ton of credit," Alabama coach Mark Gottfried said. "They made the plays when it mattered the most."

Mykal Riley had 16 points and Jermareo Davidson added 13 for Alabama, which shot 51 percent (23-of-45) and lost for the first time in four games.

"I liked our effort," Gottfried said. "My kids played their hearts out. We just came up short and we have to regroup and just take one game at a time."