The University of Memphis Tigers bounced back after two tough Conference USA losses when they defeated the UAB Blazers 86-69 last night at the Pyramid.
The Blazers scored first and went on a 5-1 run at the beginning of the first half.
This was a game the Tigers had to win, so they turned it up a notch when senior guard Shyrone Chatman scored the first two points for Memphis.
After Chatman got them going, Memphis forced UAB into a 10 second violation.
Shannon Forman scored with a pull-up jumper from the side and the Tigers pulled within four.
The Tigers became more intense when Chatman stole the ball from Blazer guard Leandrew Bass and lit up the hoop with a trey cutting the lead to three.
Chatman stole the ball again but missed the layup leaving the basket wide open for Shannon Forman to connect and Memphis finally pulled within one making the score 14-15.
After a timeout, the Blazers scored but didn't have enough to top Earl Barron who returned to the court on fire.
Barron put up a shot in traffic and managed to block a shot on the other end of the court.
After Chatman was fouled and shot the one-and-one, the Tigers put on the full court press and forced the Blazers into another 10 second violation.
Soon after Chatman connected again from behind the arc and the Tigers went up 23-19.
The Tigers went on a 9-2 run in the last five minutes of the first half.
The Blazers were still fighting and managed to hang on due to the fact Memphis only shot 31.7 percent from the field.
With 2:05 left in the first half senior Shamel Jones jolted the crowd with a monster slam, but a foul by Barron put the Tigers in the double bonus and sent the Blazers to the line.
At the half the Tigers led 33-28.
Shamel Jones began the second half with another dunk followed by two points scored by Forman and a blocked shot by Kelly Wise.
Chatman was not far behind. He ended the sequence with another three pointer putting the Tigers up 43-31.
With 14:45 left to go in the contest, Marcus Moody blazed the net with a three which put the Tigers up 47-33.
Forman came back and scored a deuce that moved the score to 49-37.
Blazer center Will Campbell was charged with his 5th personal foul as well as a technical when there was contact between he and Kelly Wise.
It was all downhill from there for the Blazers because the Tigers never gave up the lead.
With 11:55 left to play, the Tigers were up by 20 with a score of 52-32.
With 10:55 reamaining the Blazers pulled within 14, but Wise helped the Tigers pull away with a smooth turn around jumper.
For the next several minutes the Blazers scored but never pulled within striking range.
The Tigers went on to win 83-69.
The Tigers had four players in double figures. Leading the pack was Wise who had 19 points and 12 rebounds.
Chatman finished with 15 points and Courtney Trask and Forman finished with 11.
The Tigers travel to South Florida for another C-USA matchup on Feb 25th.
