The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
VCU
UAB Slides Past VCU, 68-65
12/21/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 21, 2010
Final Stats |
Photo Gallery 
Final Stats
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Jamarr Sanders scored 12 of his 29 points in the final 5 minutes to lead UAB in a 68-65 come-from-behind win over Virginia Commonwealth on Tuesday night.
The Blazers (9-2), who have now won 37-straight non-conference regular season home games, looked as if their home winning streak was in jeopardy through the first 35 minutes. UAB trailed by as many as 19 points, 53-34, with 13:15 left in regulation and by 12, 65-53, with 5:08 to play. But the Blazers scored 13 straight to take their first lead of the game, 66-65, on two free throws by Sanders with 10 seconds remaining.
UAB finished the contest on an 18-2 run over the final 6:02 to pull out the victory.
"We were able to come back in this game tonight after being down 19 points," UAB head coach Mike Davis said as he improved his record to 31-0 against non-conference competition at Bartow Arena. "VCU is a really good basketball team. We knew we were going to make a run and we just had to take care of the basketball. We wanted the lead to be at 10 with six minutes left in the game, and with 7:30 left in the game, we were down by 11. Our guys kept their composure."
Sanders had two of UAB's four steals during the final spurt, in which the Rams turned it over six times.
VCU (7-4), which lost its 11th straight in the state of Alabama, turned it over 22 times, leading to 27 UAB points.
"The thing that allows you to win has nothing to do with talent," Davis said. "It's all about effort and doing all of the little things that make you a really good basketball team."
Dexter Fields, who had a 3 and a steal during the winning drive, finished with 18 points for the Blazers, who shot 56 percent in the second half (14 of 25).
Senior point guard Aaron Johnson finished with nine points, five assists and four steals.
"I thought UAB made some huge, huge shots at the end that obviously carried them through to the win," VCU head coach Shaka Smart said. "We had too many mental breakdowns late in the game, and we're out there with seniors. We're out there with the guys that have been here the longest, and the last two minutes of the game we lost our composure a little bit, and that's what allowed UAB to come back. But give them credit; they made a lot of big plays, too."
The Rams (7-4) were led by Bradford Burgess with 26 points on 10-of-14 shooting. Jamie Skeen added 14 points and 10 rebounds for Virginia Commonwealth.
The Blazers will close out their four-game home stand when they host George Washington on Monday at 7 p.m.
