The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
West Alabama
Blazers Dominate West Alabama 97-71
12/1/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec 1, 2002
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - Cedric Davis scored a career-high 19 points and Demario Eddins added 16 to lead UAB over West Alabama 97-71 on Saturday.
UAB (3-1) used a pressing, trapping defense to force 26 turnovers from West Alabama (3-1). The Blazers also had a 34-10 advantage in points off turnovers, and a 46-16 edge in points in the paint.
"The guys came out a little flat, but a win is a win and I'll take it anyway it comes," UAB head coach Mike Anderson said. "West Alabama is a Division II team, but we were coming off a tough loss at UNLV and we needed to win this one. I thought our bench did great in this game. Cedric and Brandon (Tobias) gave us some great minutes and brought us lots of energy when we needed it."
Brandon Neloms led West Alabama with 25 points, including six 3-point shots. Raspanti Laneair added 16 points for the Tigers.
UAB raced to a 48-33 halftime lead over the Division II Tigers in the first meeting between the schools.
West Alabama cut the margin to 11 points early in the second half, but UAB went on a 10-2 run and was not threatened again.
"We have to give a lot of credit to West Alabama and their coaching staff," Anderson said. "They came out to play and they had nothing to lose. They made all kinds of shots against us, but we were able to battle through and pull this one out."
Morris Finley, UAB's leading scorer, had only two points at halftime but finished with 11 points and four steals. Brandon Tobias scored 10 points, all in the first half, for UAB.
The Blazers outshot West Alabama 50.8 percent to 35.5 percent.
UAB will next be on the road in Richmond, Va. to take on the University of Richmond Spiders of the Atlantic 10. Tip off is slated for 6:30 p.m. CT and will be carried live on WAPI-AM 1070 with the pregame show beginning at 6 p.m. CT.
