Led by their senior frontcourt duo of Yaxel Lendeborg and Christian Coleman, the UAB Blazers came up with an essential 64-61 conference win over North Texas, who they were tied with for second place in the American Conference prior to Monday’s matchup. The Blazers’ record improved to 15-8, with an 8-2 conference record that has them now in sole possession of second place.

Lendeborg, who says he’s still not fully recovered from the illness he was suffering against Charlotte, had an average night in terms of his numbers, posting a 17-point, 13-rebound double-double, his 15th of the season.

In what was still a stellar performance, the biggest moment of the night for him came from the free-throw line, where, in front of one of the best crowds Bartow Arena has seen this season, and on a nationally televised stage, he had the chance to put the Blazers up three to give North Texas just five seconds to attempt a game-tying three before the buzzer. He would go on to hit both despite North Texas head coach Ross Hodge calling a timeout after his first shot to attempt to ice him.

“I love that pressure. I had a similar moment in JUCO and I was nervous that day but I feel like I was built for the moment this time. I was really eager for it to happen.” Lendeborg said after the victory.

Coleman, the other half of the Blazers’ dynamic frontcourt duo, had a bounce-back performance after struggling in his last three outings, recording 13 points to go with eight rebounds and two blocks Monday. His impact went far beyond the stat sheet, however, and was a defensive factor in multiple crucial late misses by North Texas players.

On getting Coleman back to playing like himself, Lendeborg said “I always talk to him about it (struggling) and he always talks to us as well, we did today. He just felt like the devil was on him, so we had a little prayer moment about it, to just try to let him know that God is with us and God is always going to be on his shoulder no matter what. After that he started to believe in himself a little more and today was a breakout game and I feel like next game is going to be even better.”

In the Blazers’ backcourt, guard Ja’Borri McGhee had an impressive night as well, finishing two layups with foul contact in the first half, and forcing a miss on UNT’s Jasper Floyd’s attempt to tie the game with less than a second left. McGhee found himself in foul trouble late, but finished the night with nine points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals.

UAB will go the next seven days without a game after playing three games in the last week, with their next contest coming at East Carolina next Tuesday night.