The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Eastern Michigan
Men's Basketball Tops Eastern Michigan 79-66
11/17/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 17, 2001
ST. THOMAS, Virgin Islands - Myron Ransom and P.J. Arnold each scored 22 points to help lift UAB (1-0) to a 79-66 victory over Eastern Michigan (0-1) in first round play at the Paradise Jam.
Except for a 2-2 tie at the 17:53 mark of the first half, the Blazers led the entire game. The biggest lead was 16, once in the first half and once in the second.
UAB took advantage of Eastern Michigan's 25 turnovers, turning them into 30 Blazer points.
"I thought forcing as many turnovers as we did and us just having 10 was probably the difference in the game," said UAB Head Coach Murry Bartow.
UAB held off a late second half Eastern Michigan run, with the Eagles cutting the score to 57-54 with 7:06 remaining to play.
The teams traded baskets over a four minute stretch before the Blazers were able to extend their lead to 71-61 with the help of three Eastern Michigan turnovers.
With 2:31 remaining to play, UAB used a 6-0 run to extend the lead the 77-61 with 26 seconds remaining to play.
The Blazers shot 50 percent from three-point territory in the second half and buried their shots from the free throw line, shooting 85.7 percent as a team.
Mo Finley chipped in 17 points and five rebounds for the Blazers. Eric Bush added seven points, eight assists and was 3-4 from the foul line. Finley was 3-5 from three-point range and Ransom was a perfect 3-3 from the free throw line.
"For both Mo (Finley) and Myron (Ransom) to play the way they did was very encouraging, considering that was first game they have played in over a year," Bartow added. "P.J. (Arnold) made some big, big shots. He did some awfully good things for us. "I thought Eric Bush really ran the team well with eight assists."
Ricky Cottrell led the Eagles with 25 points and 13 rebounds. Ryan Prillman added 11 points and 10 boards and Steve Pettyjohn chipped in 12 points for the Eagles.
Eastern Michigan shot 46.4 percent from the field, but UAB held the Eagles to 18.8 percent from three-point range.
"I some encouraging things, but there are things we need to work on. It's our first game and we are still learning. It was a good win overall."
The Blazers are set to meet Miami (Fla.) in second round play Monday at 6:45 p.m. (CT).
