The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Battles Oral Roberts For Rainbow Classic Third Place
12/23/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 23, 2004
HONOLULU, Hawaii - UAB and Oral Roberts meet Thursday evening in what might be considered the test of which squad has the best intestinal fortitude. Both teams lost their 2004 Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic semifinal match-ups on Wednesday night on late three-point shots by their opponents. Now each must recover in time to win the tournament's consolation game.
"We're going to have a chance to learn a lot about our basketball team," UAB head coach Mike 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."
UAB fell victim to a Rory O'Neil three-pointer from the top of the key with :05 on the clock and lost, 81-78, Wednesday to Southern Cal. Host Hawai`i made it more dramatic, as Bobby Nash drained a three-pointer as time expired and the Rainbow Warriors won, 55-54. It was ORU's first loss of the season.
So, Thursday's consolation game between UAB and ORU will be gut-check time for each. The Blazers have responded to each of their previous two losses with stellar performances. After dropping one at Oklahoma State on Dec. 10, UAB whipped Belmont, 107-76. After dropping a road game at Richmond last Friday, the Blazers opened the Rainbow Classic with an impressive, 78-66, win over Clemson.
Donell Taylor, who scored 19 in the loss to USC Wednesday, leads UAB with a 17.3 points-per-game average. Demario Eddins (12.7 ppg.) and Ronell Taylor (11.2 ppg.) also score in double figures for the Blazers.
Oral Roberts (8-1) has beaten Conference USA member Saint Louis (55-54 on Nov. 27 in St. Louis) and future C-USA member and cross-town rival Tulsa (70-47 on Dec. 5 at Tulsa), among others, this year. They opened the Rainbow Classic with an impressive, 81-63, handling of Georetown's Hoyas. The Golden Eagles and Blazers have never met previously.
UAB beat Clemson, then lost the Wednesday nail-biter in which the Blazers came back from down as many as 13 in the second half, to USC to earn the third place game appearance.
The Blazers do find themselves in somewhat familiar territory. UAB took third place in the 1983 Rainbow Classic by beating SEC-member Tennessee, 84-66, in the consolation contest.
The game can be heard live on the Blazer Radio Network which airs locally in Birmingham on 101.1 FM, WYDE.
UAB returns home to Bartow Arena next Tuesday, Dec. 28, for a 7:30 p.m. CT tip against in-state foe Alabama A&M.
UAB Men's Basketball Game Notes in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
