FORT WORTH —East Carolina cut an 18-point deficit in the second half to seven points before third-seeded Alabama-Birmingham pulled away again and took a 94-77 win over the sixth-seeded Pirates in the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Conference tournament at Dickies Arena on Friday night.

Senior R.J. Felton scored 31 points for ECU (19-14), which narrowed a 49-31 Blazers lead with 19:47 to go to 76-69 with 3:20 remaining on two free throws by Felton.

UAB (21-11) advanced to meet North Texas (24-7) on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. The other semifinal matches No. 16 Memphis (27-5) and Tulane (19-13) at 3 p.m. Both contests are scheduled to be shown on ESPN2.

The Pirates had beaten UAB, 82-75, in Greenville on Feb. 11 as C.J. Walker had 29 points and Felton added 23.

ECU coach Mike Schwartz  cited the Blazers’ edge on the inside as a key factor in the second meeting.

Yaxel Lendeborg played all 40 minutes with 30 points, 20 rebounds and eight assists in the win.

UAB led, 43-29, on the boards.

Cam Hayes and Jordan Riley had 11 points each for the Pirates. Walker scored 10. Jayshayne Woodard had six points and six rebounds. Hayes had eight assists. Riley had six rebounds.

Schwartz and Felton expressed hope that ECU would receive an invitation to a postseason tournament.