The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
FAU
Florida Atlantic Defeats UAB In Final Seconds, 62-59
3/5/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Final Stats (PDF)
Boca Raton, Fla. - Florida Atlantic's C.J. Turman connected on an alley-oop pass from teammate Marquan Botley with one second remaining and converted on the ensuing free-throw to give the Owls a 62-59 win against UAB's men's basketball team on Thursday at FAU Arena.
The loss snaps a three-game win streak for the Blazers, while the win snaps an 11-game losing streak for Florida Atlantic. UAB falls to 16-14 overall, 12-5 in Conference USA play. FAU improves to 8-19, 2-15 in C-USA action.
UAB's freshman frontcourt tandem of William Lee and Chris Cokley once again had an outstanding performance. Lee finished with a career-high 18 points and recorded his third-straight double-figure scoring effort. Cokley completed his night with 16 points off an 8-of-13 shooting performance.
The Blazers connected on just 2-for-10 from 3-point range and hit just 5-for-7 at the free-throw line, while Florida Atlantic hit 8-of-10 from behind the arc.
"The stat that I look at is we shot just seven free-throws in the game," head coach Jerod Haase said. "Our game plan was to get the ball inside and be physical. Instead, we turned into a jump-shooting team and we cannot do that against a team like Florida Atlantic on the road."
UAB opened up with the early lead and looked in control as the Blazers led by as many as 14, but FAU ended the first half on a 16-2 run to claim the 32-27 halftime advantage.
The Owls took the halftime lead despite 12 first-half points from Cokley and nine first-half points from Lee. The Blazers started the half 6-of-9 shooting from the floor, but ended just 1-for-7.
Florida Atlantic held onto the lead for most of the second half, until Cokley scored his 16th point of the game at the three-minute mark to give the Blazers the 57-56 lead. That advantage was then extended to 59-56 off a Lee basket.
FAU's Javier Lacunza then evened the score after he hit a trey with just 53 seconds remaining. On the Blazers' ensuing offensive possession, Robert Brown missed a jumper that would have given his team the lead. FAU then returned down the floor and hit the game winner with just one second on the clock.
The Blazers now make the short trek to Miami, Fla., to take on FIU for a 7 p.m. CT tip. That contest will be televised by the American Sports Network.
