The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Marshall
Blazers Escape With Win OT Win Over Marshall, 75-73
1/31/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 31, 2009
Final Stats | UAB-Marshall box score (PDF)
HUNTINGTON, W.V. (AP) - Senior guard Paul Delaney III scored 19 points to lead UAB to a 75-73 overtime win against Marshall on Saturday night. Delaney, who was one of four Blazers to reach double figures in the win, also collected a game-high six assists and three steals.
"This was a big road win against a good Marshall team," UAB head coach Mike Davis said. "I felt like our guys played hard and put forth a lot of effort. It was a good win because we had to fight to earn it the entire game in a hostile environment. We were able to make some key plays down the stretch and that's why we won."
Senior guard/forward Robert Vaden added 18 points for the Blazers (14-8, 4-3 Conference USA), who have won four of their last five games. It also was the 21st consecutive game he has reached double figures.
Senior forward Lawrence Kinnard finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds, which marked his league-leading ninth double-double of the season and 16th of his career. Additionally, Kinnard connected on the game-tying three-pointer with 29 seconds left in regulation and also blocked the game-tying shot from Marshall's Markel Humphrey as overtime wound down.
Channing Toney added 12 and hit 2-of-3 shots from beyond the arc.
In the extra period, Delaney made a layup to push the Blazers' lead to 75-71 with 2:25 remaining. Tyler Wilkerson responded with a layup to cut the lead down to two points, but neither team scored in the final two minutes of the game.
Humphrey missed a 3-point attempt at the buzzer.
The Thundering Herd (9-12, 2-5) were led by Humphrey, who scored 20 points on 8 of 10 shooting.
The Blazers opened the first half hitting 60.9 percent of their shots to jump out to a 38-35 advantage at the half. UAB led by as many as nine points in the opening 20 minutes thanks in large part to Vaden's four three-pointers to help UAB to a three-point halftime advantage.
However, the Herd responded and took their first lead of the game at the 16:50 mark. UAB would regain the lead at 51-49 at the 12:12 mark, but Marshall answered with a 7-0 run to take its largest lead of the game at 56-51 with 11:00 remaining.
In all, the game featured 12 lead changes and nine ties.
The Blazers will next be in action on Wednesday night when they take on Tulane at Bartow Arena. Tip is slated for 7 p.m. CT and will be broadcast live on the Blazers ISP Radio Network, 107.7 FM.
