Blazers best Bulldogs

Terry Turner, Sports Contributor
Published On: 11/23/2009

The Blazers defeated the University of Georgia’s men’s basketball team, 72-56 at Bartow Arena on Saturday night, Nov. 21. The win marked the first victory over an SEC team at Bartow Arena since the Blazers defeated Auburn on Nov. 22, 1996.

The Blazer’s point guard Aaron Johnson had an impressive game, contributing nine points, five assists and three steals. He used tenacious ball handling and quick decision making to set the tone for the Blazers. Johnson also scored the first three-point goal for the Blazers.

Howard Crawford scored 21 points with four rebounds, and Jamarr Sanders scored 16 points and had five assists and three steals to help give the Blazers the edge. Both players had career highs in points for the game, and four Blazers players scored from the perimeter.

The Bulldogs quickly went on the attack to open the game with a 3-pointer from Dustin Ware. Offensively, the Blazers established their inside presence early by running plays that set up Cameron Moore and Crawford for quick scores in the post. Crawford then made a 3-pointer to give the Blazers a 12-3 lead with 16:25 left in the first half.

Johnson and Sanders made key steals, preventing the Bulldogs from putting together a momentous streak. With the defense playing strong, the offense began to get stagnant and failed to score on consecutive high percentage shots.
The Bulldogs’ Jeremy Price was an offensive and defensive obstacle for the Blazers. He scored a goal and jumped back on defense to help prevent the Blazers from scoring, causing a shot clock violation.

At one point, UAB led 23-6 but later allowed the Bulldogs to gain ground and bring the score to 23-17 with 5:52 left in the first half. Although the Blazers missed on some shots and let the Bulldogs back in the game, the Blazers were relentless with their shot attempts in the paint. The Bulldogs then fouled and put the Blazers in the bonus with 4:09 left in the half.

UAB’s Kenneth Cooper showed he was a monster on the boards by tipping the ball in as both teams fought for position with 26 seconds left in the half. The Blazers would take a 13 point lead to end the half at 35-22.

The second half began with the Bulldogs going straight at the Blazers in the paint. The Bulldogs passed the ball around until they could get it down low. They did not attempt a jump shot until Georgia’s Drazen Zlovaric made a 3-pointer with 16:06 left in the half.

Howard Crawford had an outstanding night from the perimeter. The Blazers passed the ball until only three seconds remained on the shot clock when Crawford sank his third 3-pointer.

Sander’s play also proved to be very valuable for the Blazers in the second half by displaying strong intensity on both sides of the court. On defense, he deflected a Bulldog pass out of bounds, and on the Blazers next possession, he scored three points to push the score to 52-37 with 9:45 left in the game.

The Blazers reached a critical point in the game by committing a foul and putting the Bulldogs in the bonus. The Bulldogs then took advantage by going strong inside to score a quick goal.

With a 15-point lead and five minutes left, the Blazers brought the ball up court to set up the offense and take advantage of the small amount of time left for the Bulldogs to get back into the game.

Back-to-back fast break dunks by the Blazer’s Elijah Millsap proved to be too much for the Bulldog’s comeback effort. The exclamation point came with 1:07 left when the crowd became enthralled when Charles Barkley, an NBA legend and TNT basketball analyst, held up a Gang Green T-shirt to highlight the Blazers dominance in their action-packed victory.

Men’s head basketball coach Mike Davis was pleased with his team’s effort.

“I’m pretty happy with our guys tonight,” he said. “They showed heart and they continue to get better game by game.”
The Bulldogs moved to 1-3 and the Blazer improved their record to 5-1. The Blazers will defend their four-game winning streak tonight at 7 p.m. against in-state rival Troy at Bartow Arena.

Email: tdtjunior@live.com