The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Blazers Roll Past Crimestoppers, 76-56
9/2/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Sept. 2, 2006
NASSAU, Bahamas ----- Four players scored in double figures to lead the UAB men's basketball team to a 76-56 victory over the Crimestoppers here on Saturday night. Blazers' head coach Mike Davis was pleased with his team's performance, but concedes there is still a lot of work left to be done.
"We played about as well as I thought we were going to play," Davis said. "I saw some good things and I saw some areas where we need to get better. Overall, this was an average performance, but to have this kind of performance and still win by a wide margin shows what type of talent we have."
 UAB huddles around head coach Mike Davis during a timeout of Saturday night's win over the Crimestoppers.  |
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Sophomore forward Lawrence Kinnard led the team with 14 points on the night. Junior guard Paul Delaney and senior guard Maurice Gibbs each added 12 points, while freshman forward Howard Crawford finished with 10 points, eight of which came in the second half.
After beginning the game slowly, the Blazers built a nine-point halftime advantage, going into the locker room with a 30-21 lead. UAB then opened the third quarter on fire, building as much as a 19-point advantage. The Blazers went on to outscore their opponents 23-15 in the third quarter to take a 53-36 lead heading into the final quarter.
 Junior guard Paul Delaney shoots a free throw during Saturday night's contest in the Bahamas. |
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"We came out and played well after halftime," Davis said. "We played with a lot more energy on defense, and offensively we were able to find the open players because our movement was much better."
The UAB advantage remained above 20 points for most of the final quarter, reaching a game-high 24 points in the waning minutes.
Other impressive performances included junior guard Andre White, who was a force on both sides of the ball. White finished the contest with eight points on the evening in what Davis termed a solid effort from his point guard.
Even though the Blazers had an array of fast break dunks, and acrobatic plays, the most exciting moments of the game may have occurred at the end when Davis cleared his bench. Junior walk-on Casey Holland came on the court with approximately 20 seconds remaining in the contest and promptly hit a three-pointer from the corner. After a Blazer steal, Holland was given the ball and drained a running three-pointer from 25-feet away as the buzzer sounded, giving the Blazers the 20-point victory.
 Junior college transfer Andre White prepares to receive a pass from freshman Howard Crawford during the 20-point victory over Crimestoppers. |
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UAB will play the second and final game of the Bahamas Foreign Tour when they battle the Giants on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m.
