UAB steals away victory against USM

By By Will Bardwell / staff writer
Feb. 12, 2004
HATTIESBURG A last-ditch effort fell through for Southern Mississippi on Wednesday, and the Golden Eagles paid for it with a 69-65 loss to Alabama-Birmingham.
With Southern Miss trailing by two and 10 seconds remaining in the game, Donte Stiggers' in-bounds pass was stolen by the Blazers and taken back for a coffin-nailing dunk by UAB forward Demario Eddins.
Singleton led all scorers with 21 points. Gabe Kennedy scored a team-high 16 points for the Blazers, who won in Reed Green Coliseum for the first time in four contests and improved to 14-6 overall and 7-2 in C-USA.
Southern Miss led by as many as six in the first half after being tied with the Blazers five times in the opening eight minutes. The Golden Eagles held a 28-22 edge two minutes before halftime when Charles Gaines sank a free throw after being fouled on a layup. It was one of two three-point plays in the first half for Gaines, who scored 12 of his 20 points before halftime.
Sans Gaines, Southern Miss shot just 7-of-21 (33.3 percent) from the floor in the first half. Sophomore forward Jasper Johnson was 0-of-4 before halftime, as was forward Greg Johnson. Jason Forte sank just 1-of-5 shots during the same span.
Greg Johnson scored just two points on 1-of-6 shooting and collected only one rebound. Jasper Johnson fared little better, going 1-of-7 from the floor and garnering four points.
The Golden Eagles led 30-27 at halftime and held a 38-33 advantage early in the second half after a Gaines hook shot. But the Blazers scored six straight points and went ahead 39-38 on a long two-pointer from Demario Eddins. It was UAB's first lead since 13 minutes remained in the first half, and the Golden Eagles never led again.
Southern Miss trailed 44-43 after a Ronald Pittman came from underneath two Blazers for a short layup, but two Ronell Taylor three-pointers within 30 seconds of each other gave UAB a 50-43 lead with 11:24 to play.
A Gabe Kennedy layup gave the Blazers a 56-48 lead their largest of the game with eight minutes to play.
But the Golden Eagles rallied, trimming UAB's lead to 58-56 on a Singleton three-pointer with4 1/2 minutes left the only Southern Miss trey of the night. A minute later, Jasper Johnson, a 65 percent free throw shooter, drained two from the charity stripe to tie the score at 58.
As a team, though, the Golden Eagles suffered at the line. After making 6-of-6 free throws in the first half, Southern Miss hit 14-of-21 free throws (66.7 percent) for the rest of the game. Over a four-minute span in the second half, the Golden Eagles sank only 4-of-9 free throws.
The Golden Eagles tied the game again with 52 seconds to play when Singleton drove the lane and sank a one-handed finger roll underneath a UAB defender.
But the Blazers led again with 30 seconds to play after Tony Johnson drained two free throws for a 67-65 UAB advantage. Dante Stiggers missed a potential game winning three-pointer for the Golden Eagles with 13 seconds left, but the rebound glanced off a Blazer, giving Southern Miss one last chance with 10 seconds remaining.
Stiggers' in-bounds pass was stolen, and Eddins, who finished with 15 points, put the nail in the Golden Eagles' coffin with an uncontested two-handed dunk on the other end.
Southern Miss travels to South Florida on Friday.