The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
VCU
UAB Slips By VCU, 80-77
3/19/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 19, 2008
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Reggie Huffman had 21 points, including a game-saving layup with 5.6 seconds left, as UAB took a commanding second-half lead and held off Virginia Commonwealth 80-77 in the first round of the NIT on Wednesday night.
The Blazers (23-10) led 62-47 with 6:38 remaining after a layup by Lawrence Kinnard, but the Rams cut it to 66-59 with 3:23 to go. The Blazers rebuilt their lead to 11, but Joey Rodriguez's 3-pointer pulled the Rams to 75-73 with 38.7 seconds left.
UAB converted just 8 of 14 free throws in the last 66 seconds, and Jamal Shuler's 3-pointer--a desperate, twisting leaner from the left corner--pulled the CAA regular season champions (24-8) to within 78-77 with 9 seconds left.
On the inbounds play, however, the Rams pressed and Huffman slipped downcourt, where Aaron Johnson hit him with a baseball pass and he went in for an easy layup.
Eric Maynor missed a 3-pointer for the Rams just before the buzzer.
The Blazers, playing for the first time since they lost 78-68 to Tulsa in overtime at the Conference USA quarterfinals, used a 20-2 run ending the first half to lead 38-27. Johnson finished the contest with 12 points and six assists without a turnover, while Kinnard came off the bench to collect 13 points and eight boards on the night. UAB's leading scorer Robert Vaden, who entered the contest with an average of 21.6 ppg, collected 16 points and five assists in the victory.
The Blazers will face Virginia Tech, which routed Morgan State 94-62 in another first-round game Wednesday, in the second round at a site to be determined.
UAB also got 16 points from Robert Vaden, who became the school's all-time single-season scoring leader with 686, and 13 from Kinnard.
Maynor led the Rams with 22, including 20 in the second half. Shuler added 21 in the final game of his college career, and Lance Kearse scored 16.
UAB will advance to play Virginia Tech in the second round of the 2008 NIT. The game will take place on Monday night in Blacksburg, Va. (Time to be announced at a later date).
