UAB forward Yaxel Lendeborg has led the Blazers all season and a step closer to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances.

In Friday night’s AAC Tournament quarterfinals vs. East Carolina, Lendeborg made even more history inside Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, TX.

Lendeborg finished the game with 30 points, 20 rebounds, eight assists, five steals and four blocks. It’s the first 30 point-20 rebound game in UAB history as well as the first in AAC Tournament history. The historic effort was key in UAB’s 94-77 victory over ECU. UAB advances to the AAC Tournament semifinals play No. 2 seed North Texas tomorrow evening at 4 p.m.

Behind Lendeborg’s performance, the Blazers’ offense fired on all cylinders, putting a disheartening finish to the regular season behind them. All five starters finished the game in double figures, with senior Tony Toney recording his first career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Lendeborg and Toney’s rebounding were the biggest contributors to the Blazers’ rebound column, where they beat the Pirates 43-29, highlighted by a 13-7 edge on offensive rebounds. A byproduct of that effort was UAB finishing the game with 46 points in the paint.

To try and keep pace with a scorching UAB offense, Pirates’ guard RJ Felton led the game in shot attempts and scoring, finishing the game with 31 points on 19 shots. It wasn’t enough for East Carolina, whose starters outside of Felton combined for just 32 points total.

The Blazers split their regular season series with North Texas 1-1, winning their last matchup on Feb. 2 64-61 after losing the first meeting on a buzzer beater in Denton, TX. The semifinal game is set to tip off tomorrow at 4 p.m. central time, with the broadcast coming on ESPN and ESPN+.