The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
VASDA
Men's Basketball Team Wins Exhibition Opener, 119-84
11/5/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 5, 2002
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ----- Morris Finley scored 21 points and dished out 10 assists and Cedric Davis added 10 points and 14 rebounds to lead the UAB basketball team to a 119-84 victory over VASDA USA here Tuesday night in Bartow Arena. The Blazers had six players score in double figures on the evening.
"We have a good ways to go, but I liked the way we worked together tonight," first year head coach Mike Anderson said. "We were in a lot better condition than the other team. We are trying to get ready for the season, and the important thing is we need to take our practices to the game and I thought we did that tonight."
Finley opened the scoring with a three-pointer and went on to score eight of the first 12 UAB points as the Blazers jumped out to a 12-5 advantage in the opening 4:10 of play and never looked back. The score was 19-11 with 14:17 left in the first half when UAB was able to break the game open on the strength of a 16-4 run over the next 5:43, spurred by Davis' seven points over the stretch, to take a commanding 35-15 lead. The Blazers then closed the half with a 13-5 run to take a 60-32 advantage in the locker room.
The second half was more of the same, as the UAB lead never fell below 27 the rest of the game. UAB opened its largest margin of victory on a Gabe Kennedy three-point play to give the Blazers a 102-60 advantage with 5:28 remaining. Kennedy made all six of his field goal attempts in the second half and had 13 points in the final 20 minutes.
The newcomers made their presence known as freshmen Demario Eddins and Richard Jones each hit double figures with 18 and 16 points respectively. Kennedy, a junior college transfer from Bevill State, finished with 17, while sophomore Jeffrey Collins also added 14 points. VASDA's Travis Ingram led all scorers with 23 points on the night.
"UAB did what they were supposed to do," VASDA head coach Mike Williams said. "They are a good team, especially Demario Eddins. He is young, but he is going to be an excellent ball player. I thought they rebounded really well and that is going to be a really big part of their season, especially offensively. They played well together as a team."
UAB's inside play was the difference in the game, as the Blazers scored 46 points in the paint and out-rebounded VASDA 48-30, including 20 offensive rebounds to VASDA's nine. The Blazers also showed off their pressure defense with 22 points off of 27 VASDA turnovers.
The Blazers will next conclude their exhibition schedule when they play host to the University of Montevallo on Thursday, November 14, at approximately 8 p.m. The game will be the second part of a doubleheader as the Lady Blazers will play at 5:30 p.m.
