Green and Gold roots out the Rattlers, 90-59

James McConatha, Sports Editor
Published On: 11/30/2009

The Blazer basketball team holds a record of 6-1 heading into the third week of play at Bartow Arena. In a home stand of six consecutive games, the Blazers have won three contests against Georgia, Troy and Florida A&M, with three match-ups left to play before their first road game since facing off against Jacksonville State.

Saturday’s contest with Florida A&M saw the Blazers come out strong as Cameron Moore put the first points on the board inside the first minute. The Rattlers took the lead with a 3-pointer from Brandon Bryant and held off the Blazers briefly as Florida found its rhythm.

“I thought (Florida A&M) did a great job in the first half, defensively,” head coach Mike Davis told UAB media relations. “They went to a zone, so it kind of slowed us up a little bit.”

But back to back efforts by Aaron Johnson and Elijah Millsap put the Green and Gold back on top and the field goals just kept on coming. By the end of the first half, the Blazers held a 15-point lead at 38-23, with 24 points in the paint and 15 points off turnovers.

In the second half, Blazer domination continued with Elijah Millsap putting the first two points of the half in from the free throw line. Jamarr Sanders followed one minute later with a solid jumper to put the home team up by 19.

FAMU cut the Blazer lead to 13 on several occasions, but the Blazers’ 50.9% field-goal average kept the Blazers on top until the clock wound out. In the final seconds of the game, Karl Moton put up a 3-pointer to round out the Blazer win at 90-59 over FAMU.

Howard Crawford sits at the top of the stats with a career-high 26 total points and 8 rebounds. Elijah Millsap, Jamarr Sanders and Aaron Johnson followed, each scoring in the double digits by game’s end.

“He was good,” Davis said of Crawford’s play. “He scored 26 points and got eight rebounds. I’m more proud of the rebounds than anything. Getting eight rebounds is pretty good.”

The next Blazer match up takes place tonight at Bartow against the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

On Friday, Dec. 4, UAB will host East Tennessee State for a special contest that will bring former UAB head coach Murry Bartow and his Buccaneers face to face with the new Mike Davis team. A portion of ticket sales for the UAB Health System Gene Bartow Classic will be donated to the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center on behalf of Bartow, who is undergoing treatment at UAB for stomach cancer.
 

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