The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Marathon Basketball
UAB Men's Basketball Defeats Marathon In Exhibition Play
11/15/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 15, 2000
BIRMINGHAM - Five UAB players scored in double figures, led by guard Asa Woods with 22, as the Blazers swept past Marathon Basketball 101-81 in NCAA exhibition basketball action Wednesday evening at Bartow Arena.
Joining Woods with double figure scoring nights were P.J. Arnold with 21 points, David Walker and Eric Batchelorwith 16 each, and Tony Johnson with 11. Walker had a "double-double" and led the Blazers with 10 rebounds.
UAB struggled early in the game, and trailed 18-7 with 13:21 to play in the first half. The deficit evaporated quickly, however. as the Blazers went on a 17-0 run over the next three minutes, taking a 24-18 lead on Batchelor's dunk at the 10:41 mark. UAB pushed its lead to 16 just before the half and held a 47-32 advantage at the intermission.
"I saw some bright spots," said UAB Head Coach Murry Bartow following the game.
"Asa Woods was a very bright spot in the game in terms of what he brings to this team, in terms of energy, in terms of speed. He's got a chance to be a good player for us. I didn't think the ball movement was as good in this game. Defensively, we give up 49 points in the second half. That's a major concern. Our defense is not where it needs to be. We are doing some things pretty well that we can build on, but we've just got a lot of work to do. That's the second game in a row where we've had real balanced scoring. Five guys scored in double figures, which shows that potentially we've got four or five guys that can hopefully get us double figures every night, which I think makes you tougher to guard."
Woods, a freshman from Dora High School is Sumiton, Ala., scored 13 of his 22 in the second half as the Blazers held off a rally that brought Marathon to within 11 points at 82-71 with 7:12 to play.
Four Marathon players scored in double figures, including B.J. LaRue with 21 points, Malcolm Sims with 14, Jerry Carstensen with 13 and Steve Showalter with 12. Sims led Marathon with eight rebounds.
UAB finished its exhibition season 2-0. The Blazers defeated the EA Sports All-Stars 95-82 last week. Five UAB players scored in double figures in that game as well, led by Arnold and Batchelor with 19 points each.
The Blazers will open the 2000-01 season next Tuesday evening (Nov. 21) vs.Alabama A&M at Bartow Arena (tipoff 7:00 pm).
