Last Updated: November 29. 2009 11:37PM
Alabama 68, No. 15 Michigan 66No. 15 Michigan loses again on final day of ClassicAngelique S. Chengelis / The Detroit News
Lake Buena Vista, Fla. -- The first serious test of the season is over for the Michigan men's basketball team, and the Wolverines came through the three-game Old Spice Classic bearing a few wounds that might take a significant time to heal.
Michigan, the tournament's only ranked team, went 1-2 , including a 68-66 loss to Alabama on Sunday at The Milk House in the third-place game.
The Wolverines were No. 15 but have now lost consecutive games, to Marquette last Friday and the Crimson Tide.
"It's still early," said senior DeShawn Sims, who had 16 points and six rebounds. "(The tournament) did let us know that we've got a long way to go, and we probably (weren't) a top-15 team in the country.
"We sort of started out this way last year. We lost to Duke, then lost at Maryland and then came back and readjusted ourselves and got a win against Duke. Its just a learning process. We still have a young team. We still have a long way to go. It's just a stepping stone for us."
Michigan (3-2) was led by Manny Harris' 26 points. He scored 20 or more in each of the three games. JaMychal Green scored 20 for Alabama (4-2).
The Wolverines led by as many as eight points in the second half, but their shooting went cold with nine minutes left.
For a two-minute stretch, Michigan, leading 50-44, went without a field goal while Alabama went on an 8-0 run to take its first lead of the game, 51-50, the first of seven lead changes in the final minutes of the game.
Alabama's Justin Knox tied it at 66 when he made one of two free-throw attempts, and on Michigan's next possession, Harris missed on a 3-point attempt with 36 seconds left.
"The guy went under me, so I was like wide open for a three," Harris said. "And its a shot I consistently work on, but I've just got to be able to knock it down. It hasn't been falling for me all year. I just thought that one would fall, but it didn't go my way on that one."
Alabama then drove the floor and, after Senario Hillman missed on a layup, Green grabbed the rebound and scored the winning points on a dunk with five seconds left for the 68-66 lead.
Michigan then took a 30-second timeout, and on the final possession, freshman guard Darius Morris' layup was blocked by Green.
"In hindsight, we have another play we should have run," Michigan coach John Beilein said. "We still got to the rim, (but) if Manny gets to the rim, something else may happen.
"Just felt if they put two guys on Manny or whatever and he couldn't get there but had to do it over again, Id make sure Manny got the ball somehow or used another timeout. I don't like what I did. Didn't like that finish."
Beilein said Alabama's length and athleticism, coupled with indecision by the young Michigan guards, were major issues for the Wolverines.
It didn't help that Michigan's 3-point shooting again was an issue. The Wolverines were 6-of-25 (24 percent) from the 3-point line. For the tournament, they were 19-of-72 (26.4 percent), including only nine-of-45 the last two games.
"We knock down a couple threes and it's a different game," Beilein said.
Sims said one of the things Michigan takes from this tournament is need to maintain poise and protect leads. The Wolverines were ahead 34-29 at halftime, after leading by as many as 13 in the first half. They had nine of their 15 steals in the first half.
After playing there games in four days, Michigan now has a brief break before playing Boston College on Wednesday at Crisler Arena in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge. It's certainly not getting any easier.
"When you play this type of schedule that we have right now, reality hits you right in the face how perfect we have to play in order to beat teams like this," Beilein said.
angelique.chengelis@detnews.com