The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Richmond
UAB Men Drop A Heartbreaker To Richmond
11/24/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 24, 2001
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -
UAB's comeback attempt
fell short in the final seconds as Richmond forward Mike Skrocki blocked Blazer guard Mo Finley's attempt at a game-winning shot and the Spiders (2-0)
held on for a 60-59 win over the Blazers (1-3) Saturday night at Bartow Arena.
Richmond led by nine points
at 53-44 with 9:02 remaining, but the Blazers battled back with a 15-7 run,
sparked by Finley, who hit a pair of three pointers and guard P.J. Arnold, who hit a three-pointer to cut the deficit to 60-57
with 1:41 to play.
Richmond helped the UAB
cause by missing the front end of two one-and-one situations in the final 30
seconds.? Spider guard Jeff
Myers missed with 22 seconds
remaining after being fouled by UAB's Arnold, leading to a dunk by Blazer
center Will Campbell with 11
seconds left that made the score 60-59.?
UAB forward Myron Ransom fouled Richmond's Tony Dobbins on the ensuing in-bounds play, and, following a UAB
timeout, Dobbins missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity, setting up
a final chance for UAB.
On UAB's final
possession, the ball passed from point guard Eric Bush, to Arnold, and finally to Finley, who had a good
look at the basket for a split second before Skrocki and Richmond forward Scott
Ungerer both converged on him.? After his first shot was blocked,
Finley grabbed the rebound and attempted another shot, which bounced off the
rim as the buzzer sounded.
"We did not want them
to score," said Richmond Head Coach John Beilein.
" We all thought
that Tony Dobbins was going to make the shot (the final free throw
attempt).? However, he missed
it.? We tried some things on the
final play and they worked.? I was
worried about the second shot that was taken after the buzzer."
?Dobbins led all scorers with 21 points, followed by Ungerer,
who had a "double-double" with 15 points and 10 rebounds, and
Skrocki with 10 points.
Finley led UAB with 16
points, followed by Arnold with 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Campbell with
13.? It was Arnold's first
"double-double" as a Blazer.?
Finley tied his career-high for three-pointers made with four.
"It was a
tough loss," said UAB Head Coach Murry Bartow afterward.
"We knew
Richmond was a very good team.?
Unfortunately, they jumped out on us.? We were kind of playing catch up the whole night.? I thought we fought hard down the
stretch.? It was too little too
late.? They gave us some
chances.? They missed some
one-and-ones.? They gave us some
chances late.? We probably didn't get
the right shot at the end.? I liked
our chances in that situation.? I
thought they did a great job defensively on that last possession.? Richmond Is a good team that won 22
games a year ago.? We didn't shoot
it well again tonight.? The zone
defense hurt us again just as it did against La Salle."
Richmond led by as many as
11 points in the first half (23-12 with 13:40 remaining) and held a 30-29 lead
at halftime.? Just as in the
game's final 10 minutes, UAB battled back to close the gap, outscoring
the Spiders 17-5 to take a 29-28 lead with 1:51 left in the half .? Just as it would in the second half,
the run began with a Finley three-pointer, he had five of his eight first-half
points down the stretch.? Arnold
had six points, Ransom four to key the Blazers' run.
UAB will be in
action again Tuesday, Nov. 27, hosting Bradley at Bartow Arena. Tipoff is set for 7:30 pm CST.
