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Blazers beat Samford 55-52 at Kent

Posted on Nov 17, 2009 in Sports

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The UAB men’s basketball team used a second half comeback to defeat crosstown foe Samford, 55-52, in the final game of the Hispanic College Fund Classic rallying behind the play of senior forward Howard Crawford and freshman guard Dexter Fields.

Crawford and junior guard Elijah Millsap were named to the all-tournament team.

The contest marked just the fourth time the Blazers (2-1) and Bulldogs (0-3) have done battle on the hardwood, with UAB winning all four contests. It was the first meeting between the two teams since 1983.

“Samford is a very tough team to play and one of the best coached teams in the country,” UAB head coach Mike Davis said. “The know the system and it’s just hard to play against that type of team, especially when you only have 24 hours to prepare for them. I thought our guys did a great job. I thought they got tired in the second half and missed some shots that they would normally make.”

The contest was a tale of two halves as Samford held a 30-23 lead at the half. But the UAB defense held the Bulldogs to just five second half field goals and no three-pointers (0-for-12) on its way to outscoring Samford, 32-22, over the final 20 minutes.

Crawford scored all 12 of his points in the second half, while Fields, who connected on 4-of-7 three-pointers, collected nine of his 12 points in the final 20 minutes. The duo combined for 21 of UAB’s 32 second-half point total.

“Howard is going to be our go-to guy,” Davis said. “He is going to be a guy that we expect to make some plays for us offensively. It is a role he is not used to, so some games it may take him a while to get going. Hopefully it is a role that he will accept and embrace for us.”

The Blazers trailed for the entire contest and by as many as 10 points, but capped it with by back-to-back thunderous dunks by Crawford, to seize its first lead of the game at 48-47.

From that point, the lead changed back-and-forth five times. With Samford clinging to a 52-50 lead with just under three minutes to go in regulation, Fields connected on a crucial three-pointer with two men in his face to give the Blazers the lead for good.

A backdoor cut and layup by Millsap with 34 seconds left gave the Blazers a three-point edge. But the Bulldogs would eventually have three tries from beyond the arc to tie the game, as UAB went 0-for-3 from the charity stripe and could not seal the game.

Millsap finished the contest with 10 points and a game-high nine rebounds, while also chipping in a team-best four assists and two steals.

UAB will next be in action on Tuesday when it plays its fourth-straight game away from Bartow Arena. The Blazers will travel to Jacksonville State on tonight at 7:30 p.m. The contest can be heard live on WUHT 107.7 FM.
 




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