Second-seeded Alabama and its East Region second round opponent, No. 7 seed Saint Mary’s, come into Sunday’s matchup in Cleveland each having received a dose of high-stakes basketball.The Crimson Tide (26-8) held off a stiff challenge from Horizon League champion and No. 15 seed Robert Morris, 90-81, behind 22 points and 10 assists from Mark Sears — and with an unanticipated contribution from Grant Nelson.Nelson, who sustained a knee injury in last week’s Southeastern Conference tournament, suited up on Friday but was questionable to play. With Robert Morris remaining within one or two possessions of Alabama, Nelson played seven minutes down the stretch.”We didn’t play as well as we had hoped, and Grant was like, ‘We’re not going home, put me in,'” Crimson Tide coach Nate Oats said.Sears and Nelson led Alabama’s run to the 2024 Final Four, and the duo are again the Tide’s top scorers. Sears leads the way with 18.8 points per game, while Nelson is second at 11.6. Sears also leads Alabama with 5.1 assists per game, and Nelson is the team’s top rebounder at 7.5 boards per game.”I think he’ll be all right,” Oats said of Nelson’s status for Sunday. “We’ve got to get him a bunch of rehab because we’re going to for sure need him… (Saint Mary’s has) got a lot bigger front court (than Robert Morris).”The Gaels (29-5) leveraged their frontcourt length for a 41-28 rebounding edge in their come-from-behind, 59-56 win over Vanderbilt.Saint Mary’s grabbed nine of its 10 offensive boards in the second half, including Mitchell Saxen coming down with one of his 11 rebounds in total in the final minute to earn a trip to the free-throw line.The play proved critical, forcing Vanderbilt to take a contested 3-pointer on its final possession.”A big part of the rebounding for us is attrition,” Gaels coach Randy Bennett said. “We just keep coming, keep coming, keep coming.”