The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Middle Tennessee State
UAB Escapes Middle Tennessee, 65-64
12/2/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 2, 2009
Final Stats | UAB-Middle Tennessee box score (PDF)
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Senior forward Howard Crawford scored 12 points and
 UAB held off Middle Tennessee down the stretch 
for a 65-64 victory on Wednesday night. The Blazers won their sixth consecutive game and are now 7-1 through their first eight contests, which is the best start since the 1998-99 campaign.
"I'm happy with this result," UAB head coach Mike Davis said. "I think that confidence we built through those first seven games really helped us to win this game. Had we lost three or four games, it would be a totally different story. But we won six, and when you win six, you accomplish a whole lot more."
The Blazers will now have one day off before returning to action when they host East Tennessee State on Friday night in the UAB Health System Gene Bartow Classic. That contest, which is set for a 7 p.m. tipoff, will be a special affair, as UAB will honor legendary coach Gene Bartow throughout the contest.
Gene's son and former UAB coach, Murry Bartow, will bring his ETSU team to Birmingham to take on the Blazers. Gene Bartow was recently inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame (Nov. 22) and is known as the "Founding Father" of UAB athletics.
Wednesday night's contest was a back and forth affair that featured 16 ties and 20 lead changes throughout. Both team's largest lead of the night was five points, each of which came during the second half of play.
With the score tied at 59-all, senior guard George Drake knocked down two free throws to give the Blazers a two-point advantage. After the UAB defense forced Middle Tennessee into a turnover on its next possession, Crawford broke through the full court pressure and received a pass from junior guard Elijah Millsap. Crawford then scored on a layup
and was fouled on the play. After knocking down the free throw, the Blazers had a 64-59 lead with 17 seconds left.
Middle Tennessee's Theryn
 Hudson dunked to cut the lead to 64-61 before Aaron Johnson hit
a foul shot for a 65-61 advantage with 10 seconds to play. James Washington nailed a 3-pointer with 3 seconds left, ending
the scoring.
"I knew if the game got close they would play somebody on the ball," Davis said. "I knew they hadn't seen that play from us because we haven't run it since we played Green Bay in the first game. After the ball got in the air, I was afraid we threw it too long, but Eli made a good pass and Howard did a good job of coming down with it and making an `and-one' play."
UAB connected on 12-for-21 (57.1 percent) shots in the second half and finished the contest at 47.8 percent from the floor.
Drake and Kenneth Cooper added 11 points off the bench for the Blazers. Johnson and Millsap added nine points, while junior Jamarr Sanders chipped in with eight.
The Blazers forced the Blue Raiders into 17 turnovers (compared to 11 for UAB), which resulted in a 24-12 advantage in points off turnovers.
Montarrio Haddock led Middle Tennessee (3-4) with 17 points and
 Hudson had 12.
