The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
USC
USC Needs Late Three To Hold Off UAB Comeback
12/22/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
HONOLULU, Hawaii - Rory O'Neil's three-pointer from the top of the key with :05 left lifted USC to an 81-78 victory over UAB in the semifinals of the 2004 Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic Wednesday night. Demario Eddins had a baseline three-point attempt to tie the game as time expired, but the shot fell short and Southern Cal moved to Thursday's tournament title game against host Hawai`i.
The game-saver for USC (6-3) saved the Trojans from a furious Blazer comeback. UAB (6-3) trailed by as many as 13 with under 10 minutes to play and chipped away to take a 75-73 lead with 2:41 to play on a Marques Lewis baseline lay in from Ronell Taylor. The score capped a 20-5 run over the course of almost seven minutes which included a Donell Taylor three pointer and a bevy of free throws from Donell Taylor and Demario Eddins. The two combined for 11-for-16 charity tosses in the second half.
"The game is about making stops and making buckets and we weren't able to make a stop and they made some tough shots," UAB head coach Mike Anderson said. "The O'Neil kid comes down, the shot clock is running down and he makes a big bucket. I thought our guys did a pretty good job. But you've got to give credit to USC. They made the shots."
The Trojans used timely three-pointers and 50-percent first-half shooting to take a 42-36 lead at the break. They opened the second half by doing much of the same - hitting shots when needed. Just five minutes into the second half, UAB looked at the scoreboard and saw a 10-point deficit as a timely three-pointer by Lodrick Stewart and free throws by Nick Curtis and Gregg Guenther stretched USC's advantage.
After UAB fell down 12 at 54-42 with 14:37 remaining, junior reserve Derrick Broom nailed a three and Squeaky Johnson found Ernest Little underneath to give the Blazers a spark. Five minutes later, USC had re-built the lead to 68-55 and Donell Taylor went to the free throw line to start the comeback.
Donell Taylor finished the night with a game-high 19 points behind five-of-10 field goal shooting and an eight-for-10 night at the line. Brother Ronell Taylor and Eddins scored 11 each while Lewis notched 10 points for the Blazers. Gabriel Pruitt's three-of-seven three-point shooting led to a team-high 15 points. O'Neil and Young added 13 for the Trojans.
UAB faces the Oral Roberts in the third place game at 5 p.m. (HT)/9 p.m. (CT) Thursday. The Golden Eagles similarly lost in the semifinals, 55-54, on a buzzer-beating three-pointer by Hawai`i. UAB and Oral Roberts have never met on the hardwood.
The Blazers won the third place game by beating SEC member Tennessee in the 1983 Rainbow Classic in UAB's only other appearance in the tournament.
"We're going to have a chance to learn a lot about our basketball team," Anderson said of having to play a day after a hard loss. "These types of tournaments are set up to do that. It gives your team a taste of playing in a tournament atmosphere where you have to turn around the next day and show what you're made of. It will be fun to see."
