Eric Gaines posted a game-high 20 points, Alejandro Vasquez scored all 14 of his points in the second half and UAB took down Maryland 66-63 in the third-place game of the Asheville Championship on Sunday in Asheville, N.C.
Gaines shot 8-for-13 from the field to power the Blazers (1-2), who scored 22 points off 15 Maryland turnovers. Vasquez set a season scoring best in part by shooting 8-for-8 from the foul line. His team went 21-for-23 from the line.
Maryland trailed 57-45 with 7:39 left in regulation before forging a comeback. The Terrapins clamped down on defense, forcing the Blazers to shoot 0-for-6 from the field over the final 6:38.
Jamie Kaiser’s putback layup cut Maryland’s deficit to 65-63 with 10 seconds left. Gaines went 1-for-2 at the foul line for UAB, giving the Terrapins one final play to tie the game. But freshman DeShawn Harris-Smith airballed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Maryland (1-2) also lost its first-round game against Davidson by three points.
Jahmir Young went for 14 points, six rebounds and six assists to pace the Terrapins. Donta Scott finished with 13 points and seven rebounds, and Harris-Smith had 13 points and six rebounds.
Maryland was behind 12-10 when five different players contributed to an 11-0 run midway through the first half. Jordan Geronimo’s fast-break dunk punctuated the stretch.
An open, two-handed dunk by Julian Reese gave the Terrapins their largest lead at 27-16 with 5:52 left in the first half. But they scored just three more points the rest of the half and Gaines brought UAB within 30-24 at halftime.
UAB started the second half on a 6-0 run capped by a dunk from Gaines, tying the game and prompting Maryland to burn a timeout.
It only helped temporarily. Maryland scored five points to move ahead before UAB went on an extended 13-0 run to take a 46-36 lead with 12:39 left. The Terrapins had a 3:59 scoring drought in which they missed five shots from the floor — four of them 3-pointers.
Vasquez tallied nine of the 13 points in UAB’s run, six coming at the foul line. Gaines briefly left during the second half and was seen icing his left thigh, but he was able to return to the game.
–Field Level Media