The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
15-11, 8-5
Old Dominion
15-10, 8-5
Old Dominion Downs UAB to Snap Winning Streak
2/11/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 11, 2017
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- It was the visitors who had a memorable evening on a night to honor the history of UAB men's basketball program.
Old Dominion came into Bartow Arena on Saturday night and looked right at home in an 83-62 Conference USA victory over the Blazers during the eighth renewal of the Gene Bartow Classic.
"Disappointing performance, given the Bartow Classic and all the people we had here," said UAB head coach Robert Ehsan of the night to not only honor Coach Bartow but also welcome back former UAB players, coaches and support personnel. "I was very disappointed in the outcome of the game, the way it unfolded. Give credit to ODU. They shot the ball extremely well, I'm guessing close to a season high. They made a lot of timely shots and had a lot of players play well. Unfortunately, our defense wasn't good enough in the second half, when we were slowly coming back, to get enough stops."
The Monarchs rarely missed in the first half and were even better after halftime. They shot 60 percent in the first half, 72 percent in the second half and 66 percent overall.
"Tonight was their night," said UAB junior forward William Lee. "They made tough shots. It's like everything they threw up was going in the basket. It's crazy."
Old Dominion's offensive blitz overshadowed an outstanding night by Lee. The 6-foot-8 forward scored 26 points, including the Blazers' only three 3-pointers, and added seven rebounds, two assists and a blocked shot.
However, he was the lone player to reach double figures in points for UAB (15-11 overall, 8-5 C-USA).
"We couldn't get another guy offensively to get going (and) get in a rhythm," Ehsan said.
Old Dominion's rhythm began on the opening possession of the game when Ahmad Caver drained a 3-pointer over UAB senior center Tosin Mehinti just before the shot clock buzzer sounded. It was an outstanding defensive possession by the Blazers that didn't pay off because the Monarchs hit a tough shot. Unfortunately for UAB, that was a sign of things come.
The Blazers, who never led in the game, fell behind by as many as 14 points in the first half before trailing, 39-30, at halftime. Lee's 15-footer in the final seconds provide the last points of the first half.
Lee came out blazing in the second half, scoring the team's first nine points. He hit back-to-back 3-pointers, with the second one cutting Old Dominion's lead to 45-39 with 15:48 remaining.
UAB had the lead down to four points a pair of times. The second time came when Denzell Watts got to the bucket for a layup to trim the deficit to 49-45 with 13:12 remaining.
But, the inability to get defensive stops made it difficult for the Blazers to complete the comeback. Old Dominion (15-10, 8-5) used a 12-2 run following Watts' layup to regain control and didn't let up until the final buzzer.
UAB moves on to a difficult stretch that includes road games at Marshall and WKU and a Bartow Arena showdown with C-USA leading Middle Tennessee.
"It's about get that feeling back that we've had at certain points during the year of playing good basketball, playing confident," Ehsan said. "We're going to need that down the stretch. We're going to be tested the next two weeks. We're going to see what we're made of. Come March, we have to be playing the kind of basketball that we've played for stretches here during the early part of conference play."
For more information on UAB men's basketball, follow the Blazers on Twitter (@UAB_MBB), Instagram (@blazerhoops) and Snapchat (@UAB_MBB).
