The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
5-4
Stephen F. Austin
3-4
Blazers Earn Road Win at Stephen F. Austin
12/7/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
NACOGDOCHES, Texas – Javien Williams scored a career-high 21 points and UAB snapped the nation’s third-longest home winning streak with an 84-73 victory over Stephen F. Austin Wednesday evening from Johnson Coliseum.
Stephen F. Austin had won 31 straight games at Johnson Coliseum and trailed only Kansas and Kentucky for the most consecutive home wins in the NCAA. Last season, UAB snapped Old Dominion’s 32-game home winning streak with a 72-71 overtime victory at the Constant Convocation Center.
“It’s a great win for us to come in here against a really good team and win in a place that very few have over the last couple of years,” UAB head coach Robert Ehsan said. “I thought tonight was a total team effort and I told the team that’s exactly what it would take to have a chance to win here tonight.”
William Lee added 14 points, nine rebounds and five blocks shots while Dirk Williams finished with 13 points and four rebounds. Deion Lavender (12) and Hakeem Baxter (10) each finished in double figures to help UAB shoot 72.1 percent from the field for a new single game school record.
Leon Gilmore led Stephen F. Austin with 17 points to go along with four rebounds and two steals. Kevon Harris chipped in with 16 points and a team-high six rebounds off the bench.
Javien Williams’ layup with six minutes remaining in the first half ignited a 12-2 run to put the Blazers ahead for good. Stephen F. Austin led by as many as five points in the first half.
UAB (5-4) built a 10-point lead five minutes into the second half and led by as many as 13 before Stephen F. Austin trimmed the lead to five with just over four minutes remaining.
Two free throws from Javien Williams, a layup by Lee and a three-pointer from Baxter pushed the lead back to 12 at the 2:20 mark. The Lumberjacks managed to cut the deficit to five points with one minute left, but Lavender went 6-for-6 from the free throw line to help UAB improve to 11-3 in its last 14 road games.
UAB returns to action Saturday at noon when the Blazers travel to Memphis, Tenn., to battle former Conference USA rival Memphis from the FedEx Forum.
For more information on UAB men’s basketball, follow the Blazers on Twitter (@UAB_MBB), Instagram (@blazerhoops) and Snapchat (@UAB_MBB).
