The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Tenn Chattanooga
Blazers Hold On To Defeat Chattanooga 65-59
12/13/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 13, 2000
BIRMINGHAM -
Senior guard LeAndrew Bass scored eight points in each half to lead UAB with 16 points as the Blazers (4-2) held off Chattanooga (2-5) Wednesday evening at Bartow Arena.
There were six lead changes and one tie during the first six minutes of the game.? UAB built and eight-point lead at 22-14 with 9:23 to play in the half, but the Mocs battled back to cut the margin to one point at 27-26 with 5:29 remaining, spurred by six points from forward Jamal Ward and a three-point play by forward Neil Ashby.??
UAB then shifted gears and went on a 15-4 run over the next three minutes, taking? a 42-30 lead into the halftime break.?? Bass scored six points during that stretch and guard P.J. Arnold added four.
A three-pointer by Arnold gave UAB a four-point lead with 3:13 remaining.?? Chattanooga would get as close as two at 61-59 on a pair of free throws by guard Idris Harper with? 0:23 remaining, but Blazer forward Eric Batchelor sank a pair of free throws and guard Tony Johnson sealed the victory with two more as UAB held on for the win.
Arnold finished with 15 points for UAB, followed by forward David Walker with 10.?
Ashby was the only other Chattanooga player in double figures with 10 points.?
With four assists in the game, UAB's Bass went over the 300 mark for his career, and with 302 is now just one short of moving into eighth place on the Blazer all-time list.
?"I thought we made some key stops late that we had to make," said UAB Head Coach Murry Bartow afterward.
"We just have to get better.? They had chances near the end to maybe pull it off.? I thought we shot the ball well.? We shot the ball at a high percentage.? We out-rebounded them.? We just played tentative in the second half.? Twenty-one turnovers is too many.? Eleven assists is not enough.? The assist column and the turnover column are not very productive columns. Parker (Tim) really hurt us, shooting the basketball. They have a good team. They are well-coached. They came in here and played hard."
Chattanooga coach Henry Dickerson praised both teams' effort but was disappointed that his team could not convert on several key possessions in the final minutes.
"I know that UAB is playing with some injuries and Coach Bartow did a good job of coaching," he said.
"We did not match their intensity, which got our team in a hole early. In the second half, we played hard, we executed, and took care of the ball better. We could not make the big shot down the stretch as UAB did. We came up with a big steal, Clyde McCully (20) did, and failed to back the ball out. Instead he tried to score and UAB blocked it and scored. If you keep up with the size of the Tennessee and Iowa games, that is where our loses have come. We lack experience. When we learn and grow up we will be able to make UAB play defense again. In the second half, I really enjoyed how hard UAB played. When you play this team here (at home) against a Conference-USA team that is pretty good, but are hurting due to some injuries, they are going to play you tough."
