Blazers Drop Overtime Heartbreaker to Buffalo

Tuesday, November 21

Grand Cayman Island

4:00 PM

UAB

3-2

Buffalo

3-1

OT 1

UAB

Buffalo

Blazers Drop Overtime Heartbreaker to Buffalo

11/21/2017 7:38:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands – UAB and Buffalo engaged in a game of scoring streaks on Tuesday afternoon in a Cayman Island Classic consolation round game. Unfortunately, for the Blazers, the Bulls put together the final scoring spurt in a 96-91 overtime victory for Buffalo.

"I thought we got better from yesterday to today, that was one of the big focuses," said UAB head coach Robert Ehsan, whose team opened the tourney with a wire-to-wire loss to Richmond. "We had some points of emphasis from yesterday. I thought the intensity to start, sharing the basketball, not taking quick shots, especially early in the game, was better."

The Blazers (3-2) started better than they did in the loss to Richmond but still faced an early deficit. Buffalo (3-1) built a 19-11 lead with 13:17 remaining in the first half. But UAB controlled the rest of the first 20 minutes. The Blazers outscored the Bulls, 33-18, over the remainder of the first half, including an 8-2 spurt to end the half. UAB's points in the final 2:56 came on a jumper by Chris Cokley, a pair of free throws by Lewis Sullivan and four consecutive points by Zack Bryant.

UAB led, 44-37, at halftime and opened the second half with a layup by Nick Norton. That's when the Bulls regained the momentum.

"It was a unique game," Ehsan said. "We made that run at the end of the first half to really gain momentum. We scored the first play coming out of the half. I thought they started to make a couple shots. They are very athletic, we had a difficult time staying in front of them from an athletic standpoint."

Buffalo used the athleticism and 3-point shooting ability to outscore UAB, 22-3, over the next 5:38. Eventually, Buffalo's lead stretched to 12 points, on two different occasions, with final one coming at 67-55 with 11:33 remaining.

Once again, though, UAB found a way to claw back into the game. The Blazers outscored Buffalo, 15-1, over the next six minutes with Norton's 3-pointer closing the run and giving UAB a 70-68 lead with 5:52 left. UAB eventually led by six points.

It was Buffalo's turn to come back and it largely did it from outside the 3-point stripe. At one point, the Bulls connected on four consecutive 3-pointers to build an 82-75 lead with 1:31 remaining.

Sullivan followed with a 3-pointer, kicking off a 7-0 run in the remaining time, and UAB found a way to force overtime. The Blazers last four points in regulation came on two free throws by Bryant and two more by Jalen Perry with 13 seconds left.

In overtime, though, UAB never led, falling behind by as many as nine points, partly because of shot selection.

"We took five 3-pointers in overtime," Ehsan said. "Instead of trying to go inside, which is what the game plan was, we took some errant three-pointers at the wrong time in overtime. I though the shot selection was better overall in the earlier parts of the game."

Cokley had an excellent game, contributing 24 points and 15 rebounds. He was 10-of-15 from the field and 4-of-6 on free throws. He was also one of five UAB players in double digits.

Perry (16 points, 6-of-8 shooting from the field, two 3-pointers) had his best game in a UAB uniform and Sullivan (14 points, seven rebounds, three assists) provided a huge spark with his production and hustle off the bench. Bryant had 16 points, including making all six of his free throws, and Norton had 10 points and five assists.

William Lee struggled to stay on the floor because of foul trouble. He scored nine points and had a rebound in 11 minutes.

"It's frustrating because I thought HaHa was ready to go today," Ehsan said. "He had that look. He made his first shot. For him to get five fouls in 11 minutes, two of them when he's blocking shots, which I told him, that's what he does best in the country, that was very frustrating."

UAB looks to find a win before leaving the Cayman Islands as they face Iowa in the seventh-place game on Wednesday at 11 a.m. CT.

For more information on UAB men's basketball, follow the Blazers on Twitter (@UAB_MBB), Instagram (@blazerhoops) and Snapchat (@UAB_MBB).