The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Old Dominion
Vaden Leads UAB Past Old Dominion, 77-62
11/22/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 22, 2008
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) -- Robert Vaden scored 28 points to help UAB beat Old Dominion 77-62 on Saturday.
Vaden made 8-of-13 from 3-point range for the Blazers (4-0), who shot 11-of-22 from beyond the arc and 51 percent from the floor (26-of-51).
"Old Dominion is a very good team and for us to come in here and get a win was huge," UAB head coach Mike Davis said. "This was a tough environment to play in. We wanted to play fast but not too fast and we did a good job maintaining the right tempo.
"I was very worried about this game," Davis continued. "Old Dominion is a well-coached team. We are coming off two big wins in Arizona and heading into two big games in New York City. For us to play this well in what I thought was a trap game, show great character from this team. I am very proud of them."
Old Dominion (1-1) connected on just 20-of-66 of its field goals in the contest, as the UAB defense held the Monarchs to 29.9 percent shooting from the floor and 26.7 percent from beyond the arc.
Lawrence Kinnard added 17 points and 10 rebounds for UAB, which marked his second double-double of the season and ninth of his career. Kinnard also is just three points shy of 1,000 points in his career.
Paul Delaney III, who went 8-for-8 from the free-throw line, scored 15 points. Additionally, Aaron Johnson closed with eight points and four assists. Johnson has 11 assists and two turnovers in UAB's last two contests.
Marsharee Neely led Old Dominion with 14 points, while Gerald Lee added 10.
The Blazers used a 15-2 run midway through the opening half to pull away from a close game. With UAB trailing 22-20 at the 9:42 mark, Vaden connected on back-to-back three-pointers to start the run.
Vaden's first half performance was impressive. The senior guard/forward connected on 8-of-10 shots from the floor and 6-of-7 from beyond the arc for 22 points. He would finish with 28 points and six boards in the contest.
Old Dominion never cut UAB's lead below eight points the rest of the contest.
The Blazers will now turn their focus to the NIT Season Tipoff semifinals and 12th-ranked Oklahoma next Wednesday in New York. UAB will go against the Sooners on Wednesday night at 9 p.m. ET. The contest will be televised live on ESPN2 and will be broadcast on 107.7 FM with David Crane and Steve Mitchell on the call.
