Blazers Hold on To Defeat New Orleans

Wednesday, December 20

Bartow Arena

7:00 PM

UAB

8-4

New Orleans

3-8

New Orleans

UAB

Blazers Hold on To Defeat New Orleans

12/20/2017 10:09:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Chris Cokley had 16 points and 10 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season and UAB held off a late New Orleans rally on its way to a 74-67 victory Wednesday evening at Bartow Arena.

Nick Norton added 16 points, seven assists and tied a career-high with five steals to help the Blazers pile up 18 assists and eight steals. Freshman Zack Bryant finished with 14 points and Lewis Sullivan chipped in with 14 points, five rebounds and three blocks off the bench. The Blazers finished with a season-high 10 blocks and have the seventh-most rejections in the NCAA since the start of the 2014-15 season.

Damion Rosser led New Orleans with 13 points while Travin Thibodeaux and Ezekiel Charles both finished with 12 points apiece.

UAB (8-4) built an early 11-point lead in less than four minutes as the Blazers opened the game by making each of their first five field goal attempts. New Orleans cut the deficit to six points at the 6:40 mark on a free throw by Charles, but Sullivan scored on back-to-back possessions to push the lead back to double digits.

Two free throws from Michael Zeno with just over two minutes remaining pulled the Privateers to within seven points. UAB, however, answered with layups by Cokley and Bryant followed by three-pointers from Norton and Makhtar Gueye to take a 45-30 lead into halftime.

Jalen Perry put the Blazers ahead 59-44 midway through the second half after converting a free throw following a technical foul on New Orleans head coach Mark Slessinger. The Privateers responded with a 9-0 run over the next three minutes to trim the lead to six at 59-53.

The Privateers trailed by only three points after a layup by Thibodeaux with just over five minutes to play, but UAB got a dunk from Cokley and a three-pointer by William Lee on consecutive possessions to push the lead back to eight.

Charles brought New Orleans to within two points on a pair of free throws at the 1:28 mark. Norton followed by knocking down his fourth 3-pointer of the night on the ensuing possession to extend the lead back to five. The Blazers hit two free throws in the final seconds to improve to 8-0 at home this season.

UAB returns to action Saturday at 2:00 p.m. when the Blazers host Mississippi Valley State at Bartow Arena in the final non-conference game of the season.

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