The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
East Carolina
Men's Basketball Gets C-USA Win Over East Carolina
1/8/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 8, 2002
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Eric Batchelor led four UAB players in double figures with 14 points and Morris Finley scored nine of his 13 points in the second half as the Blazers pulled away in the final six minutes for a 63-54 victory over East Carolina in Conference USA men's basketball action Tuesday evening at Bartow Arena.
UAB (8-7, 1-1 C-USA) trailed 29-28 at the half, but started the second period with a 16-5 run, led by center Cedric Davis, who scored six consecutive points during that stretch.
Davis, who made his first start of the season, finished the game with eight points and eight rebounds and was a formidable presence inside for the Blazers.
UAB built its lead to 10 points at 46-36 with 10:37 remaining in the game, but East Carolina fought back with a 14-5 run of its own over the next four minutes and 32 seconds to cut the lead to 51-50 with 6:02 to play. Jonathan Moore had four points and Gabriel Mikulas and Brandon Hawkins three each as the Pirates threatened to reclaim the lead.
UAB went back up by three on the next possession as guard Eric Bush blew through the entire East Carolina defense with a coast-to-coast drive and layup.
That was as close as the Pirates would get down the stretch as UAB closed with a 12-4 run, led by Finley and Batchelor with four points each, Bush with two and Myron Ransom with two.
Ransom and forward Will Campbell both finished the game with 10 points each.
Mikulas led East Carolina (6-8, 0-2 C-USA) with 16 points, followed by Travis Holcombe-Faye with 10.
Both teams had cool shooting percentages. East Carolina shot 32 percent for the game and was 3-24 from three-point range, while UAB shot 38 percent overall from the field and was 4-14 from behind the three-point line. The Blazers, however, made 17 of 19 free throw attempts - 11 of 12 in the second half - while East Carolina was 11-15 from the free throw line.
After a tough home loss to Louisville in the Blazers' C-USA opener last Saturday, UAB Head Coach Murry Bartow was pleased with the win and the team's effort.
"We're just happy we won," he said afterward.
"Anytime you can get a conference win, you'll take it. We didn't shoot the ball real well, but it was a win. I thought we defended hard. I thought we rebounded hard. It was good to see Cedric Davis play well. He has been practicing well and he played well tonight.
We shot free throws well, which was good. We tried to get the ball inside more and we were effective at times and we were not effective at times. Again, it was a good win and we will take it. We defended well tonight. We thought it would be a tough game, with (Gabriel) Mikulas coming back, and it was. We needed this one."
UAB returns to action Saturday (Jan. 12) at Southern Mississippi. Tipoff is set for 1:00 pm CST at Reed Green Coliseum in Hattiesburg.
