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UAB survives nail-biter with
Pirates
Box Score
ECUPirates.com Game Story
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Season-to-Date, Game-by-Game Scores, Attendance
& Links
BIRMINGHAM — With
Conference USA power Cincinnati looming ahead on the schedule, UAB coach
Mike Anderson was concerned that his team might overlook struggling East
Carolina.
The Pirates (9-12, 1-10)
proved that Anderson's concerns were valid, taking UAB to the final
buzzer before falling 72-69 Saturday night.
"We have Cincinnati coming
up, and sometimes you can look past a team like East Carolina," Anderson
said. "They played with a lot of energy and really took the fight to
us."
Yes, they did. And even in
the loss, ECU coach Bill Herrion said the signs point to a change for
the better for his team in the final weeks of the season.
"If we keep playing the
way we're playing, we're going to win some games," said Herrion in
post-game remarks on the Pirate Radio Network.
But not this one.
Mo Finley hit a 12-foot
fade-away jumpshot from the baseline with 1:02 left to clinch the
victory for UAB (15-6, 8-2).
Gabe Kennedy and Demario
Eddins scored 16 points each to lead the Blazers, while Finley added 10.
Belton Rivers scored 26
points to lead East Carolina. Mike Cook added 11 points and Erroyl Bing
had 10 for the Pirates.
Finley's clutch basket
made up for a turnover he had committed just a moment earlier.
A dunk by East Carolina's
Moussa Badiane, who spent much of the night swatting away shot attempts
by the Blazers, tied the game 69-all with 2:11 left.
On UAB's next possession,
Finley tried to pass inside to Kennedy, but the pass went out of bounds
and East Carolina called timeout with 1:40 left.
Bing drove inside but
missed a short jumper and UAB rebounded to set up what proved to be the
game winning shot by Finley.
Finley missed a jumper
with 7 seconds remaining, setting up East Carolina's last opportunity.
But Sidney Ball intercepted a pass by Cook and was fouled with .03
seconds left. Ball hit one of two free throws and a long desperation
pass by East Carolina was batted away at the buzzer.
Next up for ECU is a
crucial Wednesday home game with Tulane. Tip-off is 7 p.m. The Pirates
are in a three-way battle with the Green Wave and South Florida to avoid
finishing in the bottom two spots in the league standings, thus failing
to qualify for the C-USA Tournament.
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BOX
SCORE UAB 72, East
Carolina 69
Records: East Carolina 9-12, 1-10
C-USA; UAB 15-6, 8-2.
EAST CAROLINA
Player FG FT
PTS
Bing
2-3 5-8 10
Badiane
3-4 1-2
7
Robinson 1-3
0-0 2
Wiley
3-11 2-2
8
Cook
4-10 3-4 11
Rivers 10-15
1-1 26
McNeil
2-3 1-4
5
Mackay
0-0 0-0
0
Rouse
0-0 0-2
0
Grindley 0-0
0-0 0
Totals 25-49
13-23 69
UAB
Player FG FT
PTS
Kennedy 7-12
2-2 16
Eddins
7-12 1-3 16
Ball
3-7 2-4
9
Johnson
0-3 0-0
0
Finley
4-13 0-0 10
D. Taylor 3-7
0-1 7
R. Taylor 1-5
1-2 3
Lewis
0-0 1-2
1
Johnson
0-1 2-2
2
Jones
0-0 0-0
0
Brooms
3-6 0-0
8
Tobias
0-2 0-0
0
Totals 26-68
9-16 72
Halftime: East Carolina 39-31.
3-point goals: East Carolina
6-12 (Rivers 5-8,Bing 1-1, Robinson 0-1, Wiley 0-2, ); UAB 7-24
(Broom 2-5, Finley 2-7, Eddins 1-2, Ball 1-3, D. Taylor 1-3, R.
Taylor 0-3).
Fouled out: None.
Rebounds: East Carolina 35
(Wiley 10); UAB 40 (Finley, Kennedy 7).
Assists: East Carolina 11 (Cook
4); UAB 18 (Ball, Johnson 5).
Total fouls: East Carolina 16;
UAB 16.
Technical fouls:
Attendance: 4,154. |
02/23/07 11:01 AM
From Associated
Press reports with Bonesville.net staff contributions. Copyright 2004. All
rights rights reserved. This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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