All-America guard Mark Sears scored 19 of his 22 points in the second half and second-seeded Alabama pulled away late to escape 15th-seeded Robert Morris 90-81 on Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Cleveland.

The Colonials gave the Crimson Tide (27-8) all they could handle and even took their first lead at 65-64 on a layup by Josh Omojafo to bring the Rocket Arena crowd to its feet.

Alabama responded behind Sears, who had seven points during an 11-2 surge that gave the Crimson Tide some breathing room against the Horizon League champions. Robert Morris (26-9) came in as a 22-1/2 point underdog, according to BetMGM Sportsbook, yet spent most of the afternoon threatening to author the first true bracket-buster of the tournament after a relatively quiet opening day on Thursday.

Instead, the Crimson Tide gathered themselves to advance. Alabama will face either Saint Mary’s or Vanderbilt in the second round on Sunday.

Cleveland native Amarion Dickerson led the Colonials with 25 points, including a spectacular sequence in the second half in which the 6-foot-7 junior put together a series of athletic buckets that helped erase a 10-point deficit.

How serious did it get? Alabama forward Grant Nelson, who was a game-time decision due to a knee injury, made his first appearance midway through the second half in hopes of finally putting the Colonials away.

Nelson eventually did just that, throwing down a two-handed dunk with just over two minutes left that pushed Alabama’s lead back to double digits. Crimson Tide center Clifford Omoruyi had a season-high 17 points on 8-for-8 shooting, most of them dunks.

Baylor 75, Mississippi State 72: Robert Wright scored 19 points, V.J. Edgecombe added 16 and No. 9 Baylor squeaked past No. 8 Mississippi State 75-72 in Raleigh, N.C.

Langston Love added 15 points and Norchad Omier had 12 points and nine rebounds for the Bears (20-14), who led by 11 points in the second half but had to hold off the Bulldogs in the final seconds — and even tenths of seconds.

Josh Hubbard had 26 points to lead the Bulldogs (21-13), who were seeking their first March Madness victory since 2008.

Wright’s driving, underhanded, left-handed layup gave Baylor a 37-32 lead at halftime, its biggest to that point. A free throw by Omier made it 60-49 with 8:10 remaining.

But the Bulldogs stormed back and cut the lead to one with 29 seconds left when KeShawn Murphy scored in the lane on a baby hook.

The Bulldogs fouled Edgecombe with 9.3 seconds left and the Big 12 freshman of the year made both.

Claudell Harris Jr airballed a 3-pointer with a chance to tie the game with 1.1 seconds left. Omier was fouled on the inbounds play and the game was seemingly over. But more time was put on the clock and Omier missed the front end of a 1-and-1. The Bulldogs grabbed the rebound with 0.2 seconds left and called timeout.

Hubbard’s 3-pointer at the buzzer was no good, although it may not have counted.